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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 116 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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. field — farmland
  5. mug — a cup
  6. mug — a face
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. perch — the fish
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. stock — goods
  11. spring — the season
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — of water
  15. stock — shares
  16. field — a subject
  17. wax — to grow
  18. content — happy
  19. mug — to rob
  20. field — for sport
  21. tube — a container
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. content — the amount
  24. tube — the underground

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