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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 · wax · shower · sharp · spring · face · wake · bat

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. face — to point toward
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. swing — in golf
  8. spring — the season
  9. shower — rain
  10. spring — a coil
  11. swing — to play on
  12. face — to confront
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wax — to grow
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. spring — of water
  19. sharp — clever
  20. swing — music
  21. bat — the animal
  22. face — part of the head
  23. wake — a trail
  24. bat — for baseball

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