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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. file — a tool
  6. degree — temperature
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. pit — in a race
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. wax — to grow
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. file — a document
  13. net — for catching
  14. rule — a law
  15. pit — a hole
  16. perch — the fish
  17. file — a line of people
  18. fork — in a road
  19. degree — from a university
  20. net — in sport
  21. net — after costs
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. degree — an amount

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