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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 116 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. content — happy
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. kid — to tease
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. kid — child
  8. wax — to grow
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. bat — the animal
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. stand — to bear
  19. shower — to wash
  20. content — the amount
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. rule — government
  23. rule — a law
  24. stand — for spectators

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