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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. present — there
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. swing — music
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. bat — the animal
  7. row — to paddle
  8. content — the amount
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. content — happy
  12. row — a line
  13. swing — to play on
  14. pitch — completely
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. present — the time now
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. swing — in golf
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. present — a gift

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