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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stock — goods
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. hand — in cards
  7. content — the amount
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. tube — a container
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. ground — crushed
  14. pit — a hole
  15. ground — the earth
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. ground — a position
  19. wax — to grow
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. tube — the underground
  22. hand — help
  23. content — happy
  24. wax — for sculpting

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