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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: ball · foot · swing · wax · cold · calf · bear · face

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  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. swing — music
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. wax — to grow
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. face — part of the head
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. cold — not warm
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. bear — the animal
  11. ball — a dance
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. ball — a great time
  14. face — to confront
  15. swing — in golf
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. cold — an illness
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. bear — the animal
  21. swing — to play on
  22. face — to point toward
  23. foot — a measure
  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