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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. ground — crushed
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. snap — to click
  7. pass — a permit
  8. ground — a position
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. bass — the fish
  11. ground — the earth
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. tear — to rip
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. tear — from crying
  16. content — the amount
  17. wax — to grow
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. prune — to trim
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. bass — low music
  22. tear — from crying
  23. prune — to trim
  24. pass — to succeed

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