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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. bass — the fish
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. swing — to play on
  5. game — wild animals
  6. track — to keep track
  7. track — a path
  8. bass — low music
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — the season
  11. wax — to grow
  12. mark — a trace
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. track — a song
  16. game — a match
  17. spring — a coil
  18. mark — a grade
  19. swing — in golf
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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