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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. mate — to breed
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. content — the amount
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. band — a music group
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. kick — in football
  11. mate — a partner
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. mate — a friend
  14. band — a ring
  15. dip — to sink
  16. wax — to grow
  17. content — happy
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. kick — a thrill

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