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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. wind — moving air
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. sharp — clever
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. rash — a series
  13. swing — music
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. row — a line
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. deal — to handle
  18. snap — to click
  19. swing — in golf
  20. row — to paddle
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. wax — to grow
  23. rash — hasty
  24. wind — moving air

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