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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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. row — a line
  3. swing — in golf
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. swing — music
  6. race — the arms race
  7. clip — for paper
  8. last — final
  9. court — of law
  10. race — humankind
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. court — for sport
  13. swing — to play on
  14. last — to go on
  15. court — of a king
  16. clip — to cut
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. row — to paddle
  20. clip — a video
  21. wax — to grow
  22. race — a contest
  23. last — finally
  24. dip — to sink

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