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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. land — a country
  4. land — to come down
  5. wind — moving air
  6. ball — a dance
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. swing — music
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. land — ground
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. wax — to grow
  19. swing — to play on
  20. bark — to shout
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. ball — a great time

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