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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bat — the animal
  3. wax — to grow
  4. shower — to wash
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. perch — the fish
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. content — the amount
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. perch — for a bird

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