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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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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: pound · wax · content · face · swing · land · fall · stock

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. land — a country
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. wax — to grow
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. face — to point toward
  10. content — happy
  11. land — to come down
  12. land — ground
  13. face — to confront
  14. face — part of the head
  15. fall — to drop
  16. content — the amount
  17. stock — shares
  18. pound — a weight
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — the season
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — music

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