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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. kid — to tease
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fork — in a road
  14. cold — not warm
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. kid — child
  17. wax — to grow
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. content — happy
  20. content — the amount
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. prune — to trim
  23. hand — help
  24. hand — in cards

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