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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. mark — a trace
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. sharp — clever
  5. swing — to play on
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. swing — in golf
  9. wax — to grow
  10. game — a match
  11. rush — hurry
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. spring — of water
  14. swing — music
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. spring — the season
  20. mark — a grade
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. dip — to sink
  24. game — wild animals

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