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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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. game — wild animals
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. wax — to grow
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. swing — in golf
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. swing — to play on
  10. lean — thin
  11. kick — in football
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. lean — to bend
  18. swing — music
  19. stem — to come from
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. game — a match
  22. squash — to crush
  23. squash — the sport
  24. game — a kind of play

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