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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 120 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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. hand — in cards
  3. ball — a dance
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. degree — from a university
  7. content — happy
  8. hand — help
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bank — of a river
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. bank — for money
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. degree — temperature
  18. wind — moving air
  19. degree — an amount
  20. kick — in football
  21. ball — a great time
  22. content — the amount
  23. wax — to grow
  24. ball — a round shape

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