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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. mine — for digging
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. swing — in golf
  6. field — a subject
  7. swing — music
  8. swing — to play on
  9. field — farmland
  10. cue — for pool
  11. field — for sport
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. kick — in football
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. bat — the animal
  17. cue — a hint
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. cue — a signal
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. sharp — clever
  22. wax — to grow
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. wax — in the ear

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com