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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. wake — a trail
  4. mine — for digging
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. content — happy
  9. degree — an amount
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. race — humankind
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. degree — temperature
  15. snap — to click
  16. wax — to grow
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. race — a contest
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. content — the amount
  22. race — the arms race
  23. degree — from a university
  24. mine — belonging to me

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