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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. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. spring — of water
  4. wax — to grow
  5. content — happy
  6. spring — a coil
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. content — the amount
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. band — a ring
  13. rash — hasty
  14. spring — the season
  15. band — a music group
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. rash — a series
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. cell — in biology
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. content — videos and posts

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