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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. pop — soda
  4. pass — a permit
  5. spell — a short time
  6. wind — moving air
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. spell — letters
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pop — music
  12. stem — to come from
  13. content — the amount
  14. pop — to visit
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. wax — to grow
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. content — happy
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. spell — magic

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