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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. ball — a dance
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. ball — a great time
  9. content — the amount
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. branch — a division
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. saw — the tool
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. band — a music group
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. saw — the tool
  22. band — a ring
  23. wax — to grow
  24. branch — of a bank

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