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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. land — a country
  3. land — to come down
  4. track — a path
  5. wax — to grow
  6. press — a publisher
  7. staff — a stick
  8. row — a line
  9. march — the month
  10. content — the amount
  11. march — music
  12. track — to keep track
  13. press — to push
  14. row — to paddle
  15. staff — employees
  16. march — the month
  17. track — a song
  18. staff — employees
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. press — newspapers
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. content — happy
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. land — ground

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