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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. staff — employees
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — happy
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. ball — a dance
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. rush — hurry
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — a stick
  13. row — a line
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wax — to grow
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. face — to point toward
  18. row — to paddle
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. face — part of the head
  21. face — to confront
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. coach — a trainer

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