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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. lean — to bend
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. lean — thin
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. squash — the sport
  12. squash — to crush
  13. rash — hasty
  14. rash — a series
  15. shower — rain
  16. rush — hurry
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. content — happy
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. chip — to eat
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — the amount
  24. chip — for betting

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