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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. land — ground
  4. tube — a container
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. swing — in golf
  8. board — a committee
  9. chip — to eat
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. sharp — clever
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — the animal
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. swing — to play on
  17. land — to come down
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. land — a country
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. swing — music
  22. tube — the underground
  23. chip — for betting
  24. board — to get 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