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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. date — the fruit
  6. swing — in golf
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. band — a ring
  9. cell — a phone
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. wax — to grow
  15. bank — of a river
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bank — for money
  18. swing — to play on
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — the season
  21. band — a music group
  22. bank — for money
  23. cell — in biology
  24. sharp — clever

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