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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. swing — to play on
  3. rash — hasty
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. rash — a series
  6. shower — rain
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. land — a country
  10. wax — to grow
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. ball — a dance
  13. board — a committee
  14. shower — to wash
  15. stock — goods
  16. stock — shares
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. swing — music
  21. board — to get on
  22. swing — in golf
  23. land — to come down
  24. ball — a great time

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