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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. bound — tied together
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. lean — thin
  10. bound — obliged
  11. bark — to shout
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. bound — certain
  18. hand — in cards
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. hand — help
  21. lean — to bend
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. wax — to grow

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