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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. stand — to bear
  4. clip — to cut
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. row — a line
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. clip — for paper
  10. pound — a weight
  11. rash — a series
  12. swing — music
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. lean — to bend
  16. swing — to play on
  17. lean — thin
  18. wax — to grow
  19. rash — hasty
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. clip — a video
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. row — to paddle
  24. swing — in golf

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