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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 120 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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. race — the arms race
  6. prune — to trim
  7. spring — a coil
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. spring — the season
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. spring — of water
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. drill — a practice
  16. wax — to grow
  17. race — a contest
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. drill — army training
  20. prune — to trim
  21. swing — music
  22. race — humankind
  23. swing — in golf
  24. drill — the tool

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