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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. ground — crushed
  3. fall — the season
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. mark — a trace
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. ground — the earth
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. content — happy
  11. mark — a grade
  12. fall — to drop
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. content — the amount
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. ground — a position
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. wax — to grow
  22. sharp — clever
  23. scale — size or range
  24. scale — in music

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