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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 116 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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — to crush
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. fall — to drop
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. swing — to play on
  8. chair — a leader
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bark — to shout
  12. cap — a lid
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. swing — in golf
  15. fall — the season
  16. squash — the sport
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. swing — music
  19. fall — to drop
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — to grow
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. cap — of ice
  24. cap — a hat

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