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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. tear — from crying
  5. swing — in golf
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. swing — to play on
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. chair — a leader
  11. tear — to rip
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. mine — for digging
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. cold — not warm
  21. swing — music
  22. wax — to grow
  23. tear — from crying
  24. chair — to sit on

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