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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. content — happy
  5. roll — a cake
  6. roll — a list
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. stand — to bear
  14. bat — the animal
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. wound — an injury
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. content — the amount
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. mine — for digging
  23. wound — an injury
  24. sharp — clever

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