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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 120 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. current — of water
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. fall — to drop
  5. present — a gift
  6. fall — the season
  7. wax — to grow
  8. present — there
  9. content — the amount
  10. current — happening now
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. content — happy
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bass — low music
  19. kid — child
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. present — the time now
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. current — electric
  24. stem — to come from

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