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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: cue · content · wax · bat · straw · cold · mouse · rock

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. rock — music
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. cold — an illness
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. bat — the animal
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. rock — a stone
  14. content — happy
  15. cue — a signal
  16. cue — a hint
  17. cue — for pool
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. cold — not warm
  23. wax — to grow
  24. straw — dry grass

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