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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 116 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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wax — to grow
  4. land — ground
  5. firm — steady
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — to rip
  9. spring — a coil
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. content — happy
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. land — to come down
  15. spring — the season
  16. content — the amount
  17. spring — of water
  18. firm — a company
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. land — a country
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — to drop
  23. tear — from crying
  24. fall — the season

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