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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bank — for money
  3. face — to point toward
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cue — a hint
  7. bass — low music
  8. roll — a cake
  9. face — to confront
  10. content — the amount
  11. bank — for money
  12. bank — of a river
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. roll — a list
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. bass — the fish
  19. face — part of the head
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wax — to grow
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. cue — a signal
  24. cue — for pool

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