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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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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: drill · wax · tear · calf · content · wind · pound · prune

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. drill — the tool
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. pound — a weight
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. drill — a practice
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. prune — to trim
  12. wax — to grow
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. wind — moving air
  16. drill — army training
  17. tear — from crying
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. tear — from crying
  20. content — the amount
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. tear — to rip

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