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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: jam · content · wax · last · cold · snap · key · branch

  1. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — in traffic
  2. wax — to grow
  3. key — in music
  4. content — happy
  5. key — the most important part
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. last — final
  13. key — for a lock
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. branch — a division
  16. last — finally
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — an illness
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. snap — to click
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. content — the amount
  23. last — to go on
  24. cold — not warm

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