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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 120 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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. cue — a signal
  3. march — music
  4. root — the cause
  5. land — a country
  6. land — to come down
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. game — a match
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. swing — music
  11. land — ground
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. root — of a word
  15. mine — for digging
  16. wax — to grow
  17. march — the month
  18. cue — for pool
  19. root — of a plant
  20. march — the month
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. swing — in golf
  23. cue — a hint
  24. mine — an explosive

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