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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. plane — a tool
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. content — happy
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. file — a document
  10. prune — to trim
  11. last — final
  12. prune — to trim
  13. last — to go on
  14. lie — to recline
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. chair — a leader
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. content — the amount
  21. wax — to grow
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a line of people

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