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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. ground — crushed
  3. swing — music
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. land — to come down
  6. last — finally
  7. land — a country
  8. wax — to grow
  9. last — final
  10. club — for dancing
  11. ground — the earth
  12. swing — in golf
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. last — to go on
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. ground — a position
  18. swing — to play on
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. club — a group
  21. land — ground
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. club — for golf
  24. sharp — clever

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