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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. ball — a great time
  3. ball — a dance
  4. cold — not warm
  5. track — to keep track
  6. kid — to tease
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. content — the amount
  11. vault — a safe
  12. can — to be able to
  13. track — a song
  14. kid — child
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. can — a tin
  19. track — a path
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. content — happy
  23. can — a tin
  24. wax — to grow

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