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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. wax — to grow
  6. snap — to click
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cold — an illness
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cold — not warm
  12. deal — to handle
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cell — a phone
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. cap — a lid
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. content — happy
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. cap — a hat

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