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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. spring — a coil
  4. swing — to play on
  5. rock — music
  6. date — the fruit
  7. wax — to grow
  8. file — a tool
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. rock — a stone
  11. spring — the season
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. file — a line of people
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — music
  18. spring — of water
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. lie — to recline
  22. file — a document
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. wax — for sculpting

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