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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pass · straw · wax · content · stem · tear · court · pitcher

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. court — for sport
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. content — the amount
  9. court — of law
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. stem — to come from
  12. tear — to rip
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. wax — to grow
  20. court — of a king
  21. tear — from crying
  22. pass — a permit
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pass — to succeed

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