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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. wax — to grow
  3. scale — size or range
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. press — to push
  6. tear — to rip
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. game — a match
  9. content — happy
  10. scale — in music
  11. tear — from crying
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. tube — the underground
  17. press — a publisher
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. content — the amount
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. game — wild animals
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. press — newspapers

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