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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. swing — to play on
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. date — the fruit
  5. deal — to handle
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. march — the month
  9. wax — to grow
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. swing — in golf
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. wound — an injury
  19. march — music
  20. swing — music
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. march — the month
  24. wax — in the ear

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