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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. shower — to wash
  3. wax — to grow
  4. current — of water
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. roll — a list
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. stock — shares
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. stock — goods
  14. shower — rain
  15. current — electric
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. content — happy
  19. band — a music group
  20. current — happening now
  21. band — a ring
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. content — the amount
  24. mine — for digging

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