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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 116 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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  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. present — the time now
  2. band — a music group
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. swing — in golf
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. cell — in biology
  9. band — a ring
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. wax — to grow
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. swing — to play on
  14. present — a gift
  15. stock — shares
  16. stock — goods
  17. present — there
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. cell — a phone
  23. patient — a sick person
  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