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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 120 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. land — a country
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. last — final
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wax — to grow
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. content — the amount
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. content — happy
  14. drill — a practice
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. wound — an injury
  17. land — to come down
  18. last — to go on
  19. drill — army training
  20. land — ground
  21. drill — the tool
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wound — an injury

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