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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. march — the month
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. march — the month
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. march — music
  9. content — the amount
  10. game — a match
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. scale — size or range
  13. wind — moving air
  14. content — happy
  15. bear — the animal
  16. wax — to grow
  17. scale — in music
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. game — wild animals
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bear — the animal

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