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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. swing — in golf
  4. spring — a coil
  5. last — finally
  6. swing — to play on
  7. key — the most important part
  8. spring — the season
  9. net — after costs
  10. wax — to grow
  11. board — to get on
  12. net — in sport
  13. cell — in biology
  14. last — to go on
  15. cell — a phone
  16. last — final
  17. net — for catching
  18. spring — of water
  19. key — in music
  20. board — a committee
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. key — for a lock
  24. swing — music

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