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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 116 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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. content — happy
  3. tear — to rip
  4. wax — to grow
  5. plane — a tool
  6. bass — the fish
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. cap — a hat
  9. content — the amount
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. cap — a lid
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. cap — of ice
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. bass — low music
  17. tear — from crying
  18. deal — to handle
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. tear — from crying
  24. content — videos and posts

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