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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — in golf
  4. bark — to shout
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cue — for pool
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. cue — a hint
  9. cell — in biology
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. swing — to play on
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. cell — a phone
  17. dip — to sink
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wax — to grow
  20. cue — a signal
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — clever
  24. cell — in a prison

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