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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 little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. swing — in golf
  3. rush — hurry
  4. bear — the animal
  5. swing — music
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — the arms race
  8. row — a line
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. stock — shares
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. race — humankind
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. stock — goods
  17. row — to paddle
  18. swing — to play on
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. wax — to grow
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. date — the fruit
  24. stock — a soup base

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