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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. cell — in biology
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — the animal
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. cell — a phone
  12. content — happy
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. plane — a tool
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. court — of law
  17. court — for sport
  18. court — of a king
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. wax — to grow
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. content — videos and posts

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