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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. face — to point toward
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. content — happy
  5. cap — a hat
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. face — part of the head
  9. cap — a lid
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wake — a trail
  12. mark — a grade
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. file — a document
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. mark — a trace
  17. cap — of ice
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. file — a tool
  22. face — to confront
  23. file — a line of people
  24. wax — to grow

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