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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. spring — of water
  3. rule — government
  4. field — a subject
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. field — for sport
  7. land — a country
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. field — farmland
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. wax — to grow
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. spring — the season
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. rule — a law
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — ground
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. stand — to bear
  21. capital — money
  22. spring — a coil
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — a city

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