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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. ground — the earth
  3. content — the amount
  4. wax — to grow
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. ground — a position
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. can — to be able to
  11. bat — the animal
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. ball — a dance
  14. content — happy
  15. rock — a stone
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. ball — a great time
  18. can — a tin
  19. ground — crushed
  20. scale — in music
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. scale — size or range
  23. can — a tin
  24. scale — for weighing

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