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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. kid — child
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. kid — to tease
  6. court — of a king
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. mate — a partner
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. mate — to breed
  16. mate — a friend
  17. court — of law
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. court — for sport
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. wax — to grow
  23. content — the amount
  24. wax — for sculpting

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