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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. file — a tool
  4. spell — magic
  5. spell — a short time
  6. content — the amount
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. wax — to grow
  12. lean — to bend
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. spell — letters
  16. toast — bread
  17. bass — the fish
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. bass — low music
  22. file — a line of people
  23. lean — thin
  24. file — a document

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