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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. roll — a cake
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. track — a song
  5. chair — a leader
  6. press — to push
  7. press — newspapers
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. mate — a friend
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. mate — to breed
  13. stand — to bear
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. content — happy
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. roll — a list
  18. track — a path
  19. track — to keep track
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. wax — to grow
  22. content — the amount
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. press — a publisher

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