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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  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. mouse — for a computer
  2. swing — music
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rash — hasty
  6. swing — to play on
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. cold — an illness
  10. perch — the fish
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a ring
  14. content — happy
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. content — the amount
  18. lean — to bend
  19. lean — thin
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. cold — not warm
  23. rash — a series
  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