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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. squash — the sport
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — letters
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. squash — to crush
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. wax — to grow
  10. mug — to rob
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. mug — a face
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. swing — to play on
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cell — in biology
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cell — a phone
  22. swing — music
  23. swing — in golf
  24. spell — magic

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