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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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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 · club · dip · game · cold · wax · rock · swing

  1. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. rock — music
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. game — wild animals
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. cold — not warm
  9. club — for golf
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. club — for dancing
  12. wax — to grow
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. swing — music
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bat — the animal
  18. club — a group
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. game — a match
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — in golf
  24. dip — to sink

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