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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. object — a thing
  3. wax — to grow
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. content — happy
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. season — in sport
  20. object — an aim
  21. content — the amount
  22. season — of the year
  23. object — to protest
  24. wax — in the ear

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