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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. spell — letters
  3. content — happy
  4. content — the amount
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. can — a tin
  7. dip — to sink
  8. tube — the underground
  9. can — to be able to
  10. shower — to wash
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. can — a tin
  15. spell — a short time
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. rule — government
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. shower — rain
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. spell — magic
  23. tube — a container
  24. rule — a law

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