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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. ball — a great time
  3. mug — to rob
  4. cell — in biology
  5. mug — a face
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. mug — a cup
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. wax — to grow
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. race — the arms race
  14. content — the amount
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cell — a phone
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. pass — a permit
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. ball — a dance
  22. race — humankind
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. race — a contest

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