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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. firm — steady
  4. sharp — clever
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wake — a trail
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — happy
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bark — to shout
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. wax — to grow
  20. firm — decided
  21. firm — a company
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. content — the amount

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