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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: pound · bore · wax · wind · chest · content · wave · cold

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. content — happy
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. content — the amount
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. pound — a weight
  16. wind — moving air
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bore — to tire
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wax — to grow
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bore — to drill
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. chest — a box

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