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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. cue — a signal
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. bound — certain
  6. bound — tied together
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fall — the season
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. fall — to drop
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. squash — the sport
  14. cue — a hint
  15. bound — obliged
  16. stock — shares
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wax — to grow
  19. cue — for pool
  20. squash — to crush
  21. stock — goods
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fall — to drop
  24. wax — for sculpting

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