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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bound — obliged
  3. land — a country
  4. cap — of ice
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — happy
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. scale — in music
  9. scale — size or range
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cap — a lid
  12. wax — to grow
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. cap — a hat
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. wind — moving air
  18. land — to come down
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. bound — certain
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. bound — tied together

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