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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  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. swing — music
  2. chest — of your body
  3. wax — to grow
  4. capital — a city
  5. mine — for digging
  6. chest — a box
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. capital — money
  9. swing — in golf
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. band — a music group
  13. fall — to drop
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. chest — of your body
  17. swing — to play on
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. ball — a dance
  20. fall — the season
  21. fall — to drop
  22. band — a ring
  23. mine — an explosive
  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