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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. content — happy
  3. wax — to grow
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. rest — what's left
  6. chip — to eat
  7. file — a tool
  8. craft — a skill
  9. march — the month
  10. rest — a break
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. march — the month
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. chip — for betting
  16. file — a document
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. march — music
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — the amount
  22. craft — boats
  23. rest — what's left
  24. file — a line of people

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