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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  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 — in the ear
  2. rash — hasty
  3. bulb — for light
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — happy
  8. bulb — for light
  9. present — a gift
  10. row — a line
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. court — of a king
  13. content — the amount
  14. court — of law
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. court — for sport
  18. present — there
  19. present — the time now
  20. rash — a series
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. mine — for digging
  23. row — to paddle
  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