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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: swing · bulb · wax · straw · clip · patient · stock · wind

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. stock — shares
  3. wind — moving air
  4. swing — to play on
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. bulb — for light
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wind — moving air
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. clip — to cut
  14. swing — in golf
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bulb — for light
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. clip — a video
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. stock — goods
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. clip — for paper
  24. swing — music

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