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

Word bank: swing · stand · kid · bowl · wax · file · bear · perch

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. bear — the animal
  6. file — a document
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. stand — to bear
  9. swing — in golf
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. file — a tool
  14. wax — to grow
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. file — a line of people
  17. swing — music
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — the fish
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. bear — the animal
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. swing — to play on

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