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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bear — the animal
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. rush — hurry
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. bore — to tire
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bore — to drill
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. last — to go on
  18. wax — to grow
  19. last — finally
  20. content — the amount
  21. wind — moving air
  22. last — final
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. bear — the animal

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