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

Word bank: cold · swing · wax · fall · perch · mark · wave · pop

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. pop — to visit
  3. swing — music
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. mark — a grade
  6. swing — in golf
  7. pop — music
  8. fall — to drop
  9. mark — a trace
  10. swing — to play on
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. fall — the season
  14. perch — the fish
  15. cold — an illness
  16. fall — to drop
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wax — to grow
  22. pop — soda
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wax — in the ear

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