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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. bass — the fish
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. clip — to cut
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. branch — a division
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — a subject
  13. clip — a video
  14. field — for sport
  15. swing — music
  16. wax — to grow
  17. clip — for paper
  18. swing — in golf
  19. bass — low music
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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