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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 120 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 train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. swing — to play on
  3. content — the amount
  4. swing — in golf
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. swing — music
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. face — part of the head
  15. stand — to bear
  16. row — to paddle
  17. face — to confront
  18. content — happy
  19. face — to point toward
  20. stem — to come from
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. row — a line
  24. stem — of a plant

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