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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: ball · tear · drill · pitcher · land · content · wax · cue

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. land — a country
  3. tear — to rip
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. tear — from crying
  7. content — happy
  8. drill — the tool
  9. drill — a practice
  10. cue — for pool
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. cue — a hint
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. land — ground
  15. drill — army training
  16. tear — from crying
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. land — to come down
  19. wax — to grow
  20. ball — a dance
  21. content — the amount
  22. ball — a great time
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cue — a signal

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