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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. track — a path
  3. track — to keep track
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. net — in sport
  7. track — a song
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. craft — a skill
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. degree — from a university
  13. wax — to grow
  14. net — after costs
  15. craft — boats
  16. content — happy
  17. net — for catching
  18. bat — the animal
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. degree — an amount
  24. content — the amount

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