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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. pass — a permit
  3. squash — to crush
  4. swing — in golf
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. swing — to play on
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. wax — to grow
  12. squash — the sport
  13. rash — a series
  14. hand — in cards
  15. lean — thin
  16. court — of law
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. court — of a king
  21. swing — music
  22. lean — to bend
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. rash — hasty

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