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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. perch — the fish
  3. bore — to tire
  4. content — happy
  5. scale — size or range
  6. chest — of your body
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. rash — hasty
  9. scale — in music
  10. bore — to drill
  11. chest — of your body
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. chest — a box
  15. vault — a safe
  16. rash — a series
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. content — the amount
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. wax — to grow
  24. perch — for a bird

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