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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. swing — music
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. date — the fruit
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. swing — in golf
  9. pit — a hole
  10. bass — low music
  11. bass — the fish
  12. ground — the earth
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. pit — in a race
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wax — to grow
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. swing — to play on
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. ground — crushed

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