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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. row — a line
  3. wax — to grow
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. prune — to trim
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. content — the amount
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. staff — employees
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. object — an aim
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. staff — a stick
  16. object — a thing
  17. prune — to trim
  18. row — to paddle
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. object — to protest
  21. pitch — completely
  22. staff — employees
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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