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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 116 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: firm · kid · mine · wax · last · content · squash · wind

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. content — happy
  4. kid — to tease
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. kid — child
  7. last — to go on
  8. content — the amount
  9. squash — the sport
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. wind — moving air
  13. last — final
  14. wind — moving air
  15. mine — for digging
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. firm — decided
  18. last — finally
  19. firm — a company
  20. wax — to grow
  21. squash — to crush
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. mine — belonging to me

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