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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. game — wild animals
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. wind — moving air
  5. row — a line
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. hand — in cards
  9. wax — to grow
  10. row — to paddle
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wind — moving air
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. hand — help
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — a match
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. content — happy
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. sharp — clever
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. content — the amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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