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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. content — happy
  4. net — in sport
  5. ball — a great time
  6. wax — to grow
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. content — the amount
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. row — a line
  14. ball — a dance
  15. row — to paddle
  16. net — after costs
  17. can — a tin
  18. net — for catching
  19. can — to be able to
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. can — a tin
  24. fan — a supporter

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