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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 116 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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. swing — to play on
  3. land — to come down
  4. lie — to recline
  5. land — ground
  6. wind — moving air
  7. net — after costs
  8. bound — tied together
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. bound — certain
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. swing — in golf
  13. wax — to grow
  14. swing — music
  15. bass — low music
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bound — obliged
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. land — a country
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. wind — moving air
  24. net — for catching

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