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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. perch — the fish
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. swing — music
  5. net — after costs
  6. wax — to grow
  7. net — for catching
  8. swing — to play on
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wind — moving air
  11. net — in sport
  12. march — the month
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. swing — in golf
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. wind — moving air
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. march — music
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. content — happy
  22. march — the month
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. perch — for a bird

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