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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. bear — the animal
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. game — a match
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. content — the amount
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. season — in sport
  12. wax — to grow
  13. tube — a container
  14. game — wild animals
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. wake — a trail
  18. season — of the year
  19. bear — the animal
  20. tube — the underground
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — the animal
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. content — happy

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