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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 120 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: bat · chest · drill · saw · snap · content · stand · wax

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. content — the amount
  3. content — happy
  4. stand — to bear
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. wax — to grow
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. drill — army training
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. saw — the tool
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. drill — the tool
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. snap — to click
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bat — the animal
  20. saw — the tool
  21. drill — a practice
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. chest — of your body
  24. stand — on your feet

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