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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. tear — from crying
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chair — a leader
  5. snap — to click
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. wax — to grow
  11. tear — from crying
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. lean — thin
  16. content — happy
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. chest — of your body
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. lean — to bend
  22. chest — a box
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. tear — to rip

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