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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 · ground · club · drill · wax · mine · swing · bowl

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. swing — to play on
  3. ground — a position
  4. wax — to grow
  5. drill — a practice
  6. ground — the earth
  7. club — for golf
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. ground — crushed
  14. club — a group
  15. swing — music
  16. drill — army training
  17. drill — the tool
  18. club — for dancing
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. swing — in golf
  23. mine — for digging
  24. bowl — a dish

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