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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: wax · clip · mouse · mine · shower · snap · nail · content

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. shower — to wash
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. clip — to cut
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. snap — to click
  13. content — the amount
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. content — happy
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. wax — to grow
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. shower — rain

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