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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. chest — a box
  3. content — happy
  4. chest — of your body
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. file — a line of people
  7. chest — of your body
  8. content — the amount
  9. wax — to grow
  10. bat — the animal
  11. file — a tool
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. season — in sport
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. season — of the year

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