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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. swing — in golf
  4. bark — to shout
  5. swing — music
  6. current — of water
  7. current — electric
  8. bound — tied together
  9. hand — help
  10. rash — hasty
  11. row — a line
  12. hand — in cards
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. swing — to play on
  15. row — to paddle
  16. bound — certain
  17. bound — obliged
  18. rash — a series
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. current — happening now

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