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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · content · capital · fan · rock · lean · wax · mate

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. content — the amount
  3. cold — an illness
  4. rock — music
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wax — to grow
  13. mate — a partner
  14. capital — money
  15. mate — to breed
  16. capital — a city
  17. cold — not warm
  18. rock — a stone
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. lean — thin
  21. content — happy
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. mate — a friend
  24. lean — to bend

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