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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  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. stock — shares
  3. cue — for pool
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a ring
  6. stock — goods
  7. cue — a hint
  8. kid — child
  9. wax — to grow
  10. cue — a signal
  11. chip — for betting
  12. kid — to tease
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. chip — to eat
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. band — a music group
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. content — the amount
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. leaves — to go away
  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