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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. wind — moving air
  5. swing — to play on
  6. wax — to grow
  7. bear — the animal
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. swing — in golf
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. bear — the animal
  18. pitch — completely
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. swing — music
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pitcher — a jug

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