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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. swing — in golf
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. degree — an amount
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. degree — from a university
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. swing — music
  17. foot — a measure
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. stock — goods
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wax — to grow
  22. swing — to play on
  23. degree — temperature
  24. stock — shares

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