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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bat — the animal
  3. spell — magic
  4. press — to push
  5. swing — in golf
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. spell — letters
  8. press — a publisher
  9. swing — music
  10. file — a tool
  11. file — a document
  12. swing — to play on
  13. spell — a short time
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. court — of law
  16. court — of a king
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. press — newspapers
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. wax — to grow
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. file — a line of people

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