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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. scale — size or range
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. season — of the year
  6. dip — to sink
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. bat — the animal
  10. content — the amount
  11. season — in sport
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. wax — to grow
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a tool
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. content — happy
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. file — a line of people
  22. scale — in music
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. branch — of a bank

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