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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 120 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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. race — humankind
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. race — the arms race
  6. wax — to grow
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. bark — to shout
  10. rule — a law
  11. plane — a tool
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. file — a tool
  15. file — a line of people
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. race — a contest
  18. game — a match
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. file — a document
  22. game — wild animals
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. wax — for sculpting

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