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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. mine — for digging
  3. kid — to tease
  4. snap — to click
  5. net — for catching
  6. swing — in golf
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. swing — music
  11. net — after costs
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. kid — child
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. current — electric
  18. current — happening now
  19. net — in sport
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. swing — to play on
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. current — of water

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