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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: straw · content · wax · pass · tear · bass · net · kid

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. tear — from crying
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. wax — to grow
  7. net — after costs
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. content — happy
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. bass — low music
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. tear — from crying
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. net — in sport
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. net — for catching
  19. bass — the fish
  20. pass — a permit
  21. tear — to rip
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. kid — child
  24. kid — to tease

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