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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. land — a country
  3. content — happy
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. lie — to recline
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. land — to come down
  8. squash — the sport
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. content — the amount
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bark — to shout
  17. plane — a tool
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. wax — to grow
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. squash — to crush
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. land — ground

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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