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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. file — a tool
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. pop — soda
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. wax — to grow
  8. rush — hurry
  9. wind — moving air
  10. content — happy
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. wind — moving air
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. file — a document
  17. stem — to come from
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. pop — to visit
  21. file — a line of people
  22. pop — music
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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