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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. bound — obliged
  3. pop — soda
  4. tube — the underground
  5. bound — certain
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. drill — the tool
  9. drill — army training
  10. pop — to visit
  11. spring — of water
  12. drill — a practice
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. spring — the season
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tube — a container
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. spring — a coil
  20. content — happy
  21. content — the amount
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. bound — tied together

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