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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. face — to point toward
  5. face — to confront
  6. stock — shares
  7. wax — to grow
  8. spell — letters
  9. bound — certain
  10. spell — magic
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. rule — a law
  14. bound — tied together
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. bound — obliged
  17. sharp — clever
  18. spell — a short time
  19. rule — government
  20. chair — a leader
  21. face — part of the head
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. stock — goods
  24. chair — to sit on

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