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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. rash — a series
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. foot — a measure
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wax — to grow
  12. kid — child
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. rash — hasty
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wind — moving air
  17. content — the amount
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. mark — a trace
  20. mark — a grade
  21. kid — to tease
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wind — moving air
  24. mark — to pay attention

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