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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. bear — the animal
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. scale — size or range
  7. scale — in music
  8. content — the amount
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. cold — an illness
  12. content — happy
  13. wax — to grow
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — help
  17. squash — the sport
  18. cold — not warm
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. squash — to crush
  21. hand — in cards
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. bear — the animal
  24. arm — part of the body

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