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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 116 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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wound — an injury
  7. content — happy
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. wax — to grow
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — the amount
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cold — an illness
  18. nail — for a hammer

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