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

Word bank: row · last · rule · kid · deal · wax · content · net

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. kid — to tease
  3. rule — a law
  4. row — to paddle
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. last — final
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. kid — child
  10. net — in sport
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. last — finally
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. last — to go on
  15. rule — government
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. net — after costs
  18. net — for catching
  19. deal — to handle
  20. content — the amount
  21. row — a line
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. rule — to rule out

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