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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. chest — a box
  3. content — happy
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. wake — a trail
  7. chest — of your body
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — to grow
  11. chest — of your body
  12. file — a line of people
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. net — after costs
  16. kid — child
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. file — a document
  19. net — in sport
  20. content — the amount
  21. net — for catching
  22. file — a tool
  23. kid — to tease
  24. branch — a division

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