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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. content — happy
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wax — to grow
  5. clip — to cut
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. sharp — clever
  9. clip — for paper
  10. fall — to drop
  11. lie — to recline
  12. clip — a video
  13. snap — to click
  14. content — the amount
  15. fall — to drop
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. fall — the season
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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