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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wake — a trail
  8. root — of a word
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. spring — of water
  14. content — the amount
  15. spring — a coil
  16. root — the cause
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. root — of a plant
  20. sharp — clever
  21. cold — an illness
  22. spring — the season
  23. content — happy
  24. sharp — exactly

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