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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  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. game — wild animals
  2. wax — to grow
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. craft — boats
  5. content — happy
  6. bass — the fish
  7. craft — a skill
  8. spell — magic
  9. bass — low music
  10. spell — letters
  11. tube — the underground
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. spell — a short time
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. tube — a container
  20. game — a match
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. game — a kind of play
  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