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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. swing — to play on
  3. swing — in golf
  4. shower — to wash
  5. present — the time now
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. wax — to grow
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. stand — to bear
  13. present — there
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. game — wild animals
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. dip — to sink
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — child
  21. swing — music
  22. game — a match
  23. present — a gift
  24. shower — rain

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