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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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468
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 · content · mine · fall · hand · mark · pound · bowl

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. fall — to drop
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. content — happy
  6. mark — a trace
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. hand — in cards
  9. wax — to grow
  10. pound — a weight
  11. content — the amount
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. mine — for digging
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. mark — a grade
  19. fall — to drop
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. fall — the season
  24. pound — to hit hard

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