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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 124 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. wax — to grow
  3. snap — to click
  4. content — happy
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. swing — music
  8. pop — music
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. content — the amount
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — to play on
  18. game — wild animals
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. game — a match
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. pitch — completely
  23. pop — soda
  24. kid — child

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