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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: club · deal · wax · degree · lash · content · band · swing

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. band — a music group
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. band — a ring
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. content — happy
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. deal — to handle
  9. club — for golf
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. swing — in golf
  14. club — a group
  15. degree — an amount
  16. swing — to play on
  17. degree — from a university
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. content — the amount
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. wax — to grow
  22. degree — temperature
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. club — for dancing

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