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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. lie — to recline
  3. wind — moving air
  4. kid — child
  5. branch — a division
  6. kid — to tease
  7. swing — to play on
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. swing — music
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. wax — to grow
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. swing — in golf
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bat — the animal
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. lie — an untruth

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