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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. rule — a law
  4. rule — government
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. tube — the underground
  9. kid — to tease
  10. tube — a container
  11. chest — a box
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. branch — a division
  15. cell — a phone
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cell — in biology
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. chest — of your body
  21. kid — child
  22. wax — to grow
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — of a bank

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