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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. swing — in golf
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wax — to grow
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. swing — to play on
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. swing — music
  12. field — for sport
  13. spring — of water
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. spring — a coil
  16. pound — a weight
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. field — a subject
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. field — farmland
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. straw — dry grass

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