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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: pit · track · shower · tube · wax · swing · cold · jam

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. swing — in golf
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. track — to keep track
  5. pit — a hole
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. swing — music
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. shower — to wash
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. swing — to play on
  12. cold — an illness
  13. tube — the underground
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. wax — to grow
  16. track — a path
  17. tube — a container
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. cold — not warm
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. pit — in a race
  22. track — a song
  23. shower — rain
  24. cold — the Cold War

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