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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. content — happy
  3. mate — to breed
  4. cell — in biology
  5. capital — money
  6. mug — to rob
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. race — a contest
  9. mug — a cup
  10. cell — a phone
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. race — humankind
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. mate — a friend
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. mug — a face
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. mate — a partner
  21. capital — a city
  22. race — the arms race
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. content — the amount

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