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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bark — to shout
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. ball — a great time
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. rule — a law
  8. pop — soda
  9. capital — a city
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. ball — a dance
  13. wax — to grow
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. rule — government
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. capital — money
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. row — a line
  21. pop — to visit
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. pop — music
  24. row — to paddle

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