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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 120 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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. band — a music group
  5. stock — shares
  6. rest — what's left
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. rest — what's left
  9. content — the amount
  10. rest — a break
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. land — ground
  13. land — to come down
  14. stock — goods
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. content — happy
  17. chair — a leader
  18. band — a ring
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. land — a country
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — the tool
  24. band — a rubber band

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