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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. court — for sport
  3. snap — to click
  4. branch — a division
  5. tear — from crying
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. court — of a king
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — to grow
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. cell — in biology
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. cell — a phone
  19. tear — to rip
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. swing — in golf
  22. tear — from crying
  23. court — of law
  24. swing — music

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