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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: content · wax · wind · stand · chest · wound · pop · snap

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. wind — moving air
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. content — happy
  6. pop — to visit
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wax — to grow
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. chest — of your body
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. pop — music
  17. stand — to bear
  18. pop — soda
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. chest — a box
  21. wound — an injury
  22. snap — to click
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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