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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  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. nail — on a finger
  2. present — there
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — happy
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. content — the amount
  9. drill — army training
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. drill — a practice
  12. present — a gift
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. wax — to grow
  15. degree — from a university
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. degree — an amount
  18. row — to paddle
  19. degree — temperature
  20. scale — in music
  21. present — the time now
  22. row — a line
  23. drill — the tool
  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