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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: wax · ground · pop · rock · content · tube · fall · cold

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. tube — the underground
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fall — to drop
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. pop — soda
  8. fall — the season
  9. ground — the earth
  10. content — happy
  11. pop — to visit
  12. cold — an illness
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. fall — to drop
  16. rock — a stone
  17. tube — a container
  18. content — the amount
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. wax — to grow
  21. rock — music
  22. pop — music
  23. cold — not warm
  24. ground — a position

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