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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. spring — the season
  4. game — a match
  5. deal — to handle
  6. wind — moving air
  7. game — wild animals
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. swing — in golf
  15. spring — a coil
  16. wind — moving air
  17. spring — of water
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. wax — to grow
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. swing — to play on
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. swing — music
  24. deal — an agreement

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