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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. capital — a city
  3. face — to confront
  4. band — a ring
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. rule — a law
  7. face — part of the head
  8. face — to point toward
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. prune — to trim
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. vault — a safe
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. capital — money
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. prune — to trim
  20. band — a music group
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. wax — to grow

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