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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. spell — magic
  3. fall — to drop
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. rock — a stone
  6. spell — letters
  7. content — happy
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a tool
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. object — an aim
  12. object — to protest
  13. net — after costs
  14. fall — the season
  15. wax — to grow
  16. content — the amount
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — for catching
  19. file — a document
  20. rock — music
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. object — a thing
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. spell — a short time

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