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

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. prune — to trim
  3. last — finally
  4. rule — a law
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. prune — to trim
  7. race — a contest
  8. last — to go on
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. band — a ring
  11. rule — government
  12. field — a subject
  13. last — final
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — humankind
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. field — farmland
  19. club — for dancing
  20. club — for golf
  21. field — for sport
  22. club — a group
  23. band — a rubber band
  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