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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. last — to go on
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. court — of law
  6. rash — a series
  7. file — a tool
  8. pitch — completely
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. court — for sport
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. file — a line of people
  14. rash — hasty
  15. mark — a trace
  16. last — final
  17. court — of a king
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. last — finally
  20. mark — a grade
  21. rule — a law
  22. file — a document
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. wax — to grow

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