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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. land — ground
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. clip — to cut
  5. land — to come down
  6. ground — the earth
  7. rash — hasty
  8. swing — to play on
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. clip — for paper
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. wax — to grow
  15. swing — in golf
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. bat — the animal
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. ground — a position
  20. ground — crushed
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. land — a country
  23. rash — a series
  24. clip — a video

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