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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. wax — to grow
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. shower — rain
  6. squash — the sport
  7. content — happy
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. kick — in football
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. fine — high quality
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. perch — the fish
  17. kid — to tease
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. squash — to crush
  21. shower — to wash
  22. fine — all right
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. kid — child

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