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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. wax — to grow
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. lean — thin
  7. shower — rain
  8. scale — size or range
  9. content — the amount
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. prune — to trim
  12. scale — in music
  13. lean — to bend
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. shower — to wash
  16. face — to point toward
  17. game — wild animals
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. game — a match
  20. face — part of the head
  21. content — happy
  22. face — to confront
  23. prune — to trim
  24. wax — for sculpting

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