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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cue — a signal
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — for digging
  5. track — to keep track
  6. wax — to grow
  7. track — a song
  8. present — there
  9. cue — a hint
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. roll — a list
  12. content — happy
  13. present — the time now
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. content — the amount
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. track — a path
  20. present — a gift
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. cue — for pool
  24. roll — a cake

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