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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. swing — in golf
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. deal — to handle
  6. wax — to grow
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. last — to go on
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. clip — to cut
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. last — final
  13. pitch — completely
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. swing — music
  17. dip — to sink
  18. clip — for paper
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. clip — a video
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. last — finally
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. swing — to play on

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