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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. rash — a series
  6. can — a tin
  7. cold — an illness
  8. capital — a city
  9. rock — music
  10. swing — in golf
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. rash — hasty
  15. can — a tin
  16. wax — to grow
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. can — to be able to
  20. rock — a stone
  21. swing — to play on
  22. swing — music
  23. cold — not warm
  24. capital — money

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