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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: cold · pass · content · bulb · last · stock · wax · bound

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. stock — goods
  3. pass — a permit
  4. last — finally
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bulb — for light
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. last — to go on
  11. content — happy
  12. content — the amount
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. stock — shares
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bound — obliged
  19. last — final
  20. bulb — for light
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. bound — certain

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