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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. court — of a king
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. ground — a position
  6. chest — a box
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. ground — crushed
  9. wax — to grow
  10. content — happy
  11. court — of law
  12. court — for sport
  13. swing — music
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. swing — to play on
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. content — the amount
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. chest — of your body
  21. squash — to crush
  22. squash — the sport
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. ground — the earth

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