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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. content — the amount
  3. chest — of your body
  4. content — happy
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. land — to come down
  8. wax — to grow
  9. chest — a box
  10. rule — a law
  11. track — a song
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. land — a country
  14. last — to go on
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. track — a path
  17. land — ground
  18. chest — of your body
  19. rule — government
  20. last — final
  21. track — to keep track
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. wax — in the ear

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