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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. can — to be able to
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. can — a tin
  5. land — a country
  6. pound — a weight
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. content — the amount
  9. land — ground
  10. kid — child
  11. wax — to grow
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. land — to come down
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. can — a tin
  17. mine — for digging
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. content — happy
  20. kid — to tease
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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