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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: tube · degree · content · wind · wax · wake · mark · leaves

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. degree — an amount
  3. tube — the underground
  4. mark — a grade
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. wax — to grow
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. mark — a trace
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. degree — temperature
  16. content — the amount
  17. wind — moving air
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. degree — from a university
  20. tube — a container
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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