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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. content — the amount
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. cap — a hat
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. march — the month
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. kid — child
  14. cap — of ice
  15. march — the month
  16. date — the fruit
  17. kid — to tease
  18. march — music
  19. content — happy
  20. cap — a lid
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. season — of the year
  24. season — in sport

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