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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. content — the amount
  4. bark — to shout
  5. wax — to grow
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. sharp — clever
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. content — happy
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — size or range
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. kid — child
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. kid — to tease
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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