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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. net — for catching
  3. file — a line of people
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. bass — low music
  8. squash — the sport
  9. squash — to crush
  10. net — after costs
  11. season — of the year
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. net — in sport
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. bass — the fish
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — magic
  18. season — in sport
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. wax — to grow
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a tool
  23. content — the amount
  24. spell — a short time

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