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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. stock — goods
  3. stock — shares
  4. bound — obliged
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. swing — in golf
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cell — in biology
  10. wind — moving air
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. row — a line
  15. bound — certain
  16. wax — to grow
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. swing — music
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. bound — tied together
  21. swing — to play on
  22. row — to paddle
  23. dip — to sink
  24. cell — a phone

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