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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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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. content — happy
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. net — in sport
  6. wind — moving air
  7. net — after costs
  8. wind — moving air
  9. content — the amount
  10. date — the fruit
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. net — for catching
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. scale — in music
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. wax — to grow
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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