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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bat · spring · cold · swing · wax · board · saw · firm

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. spring — a coil
  3. firm — decided
  4. board — a committee
  5. saw — the tool
  6. swing — to play on
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. firm — steady
  12. swing — music
  13. spring — the season
  14. board — to get on
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. bat — the animal
  17. cold — an illness
  18. spring — of water
  19. saw — the tool
  20. wax — to grow
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. firm — a company

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