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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. swing — music
  3. row — to paddle
  4. row — a line
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. wax — to grow
  8. swing — in golf
  9. object — a thing
  10. spring — of water
  11. object — to protest
  12. object — an aim
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. spring — the season
  15. bat — the animal
  16. spring — a coil
  17. game — wild animals
  18. swing — to play on
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. lie — to recline
  24. lie — an untruth

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