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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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468
Word bank
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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. wind — moving air
  3. swing — in golf
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wind — moving air
  10. content — the amount
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. mate — a partner
  15. swing — music
  16. mate — a friend
  17. wax — to grow
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. mate — to breed
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. swing — to play on
  23. fine — all right
  24. content — happy

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