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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: track · swing · lie · chest · capital · rush · wax · wind

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. capital — money
  4. chest — a box
  5. rush — hurry
  6. wind — moving air
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. track — a path
  12. track — to keep track
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wax — to grow
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — to play on
  18. capital — a city
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. track — a song
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. lie — to recline

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