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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  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 — happy
  2. hand — help
  3. pop — soda
  4. hand — in cards
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. wax — to grow
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. content — the amount
  14. tube — a container
  15. pop — to visit
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. pitch — completely
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. tube — the underground
  23. pop — music
  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