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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. wax — to grow
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. face — part of the head
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. content — happy
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. race — humankind
  10. ground — the earth
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. face — to point toward
  13. content — the amount
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. scale — in music
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. race — the arms race
  20. race — a contest
  21. ground — a position
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. face — to confront
  24. scale — size or range

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