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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. net — after costs
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. wax — to grow
  5. file — a tool
  6. cell — in biology
  7. net — in sport
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. march — the month
  10. rule — a law
  11. pop — soda
  12. cell — a phone
  13. pop — to visit
  14. file — a document
  15. march — the month
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. pit — a hole
  18. pop — music
  19. file — a line of people
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. net — for catching
  23. rule — government
  24. pit — in a race

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