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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. capital — money
  3. bound — obliged
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. stock — goods
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. band — a ring
  11. content — happy
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cold — not warm
  14. stock — shares
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a music group
  18. wax — to grow
  19. capital — a city
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. content — the amount
  24. bound — tied together

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