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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. stock — goods
  5. rule — a law
  6. club — for golf
  7. club — a group
  8. rule — government
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. press — newspapers
  12. wax — to grow
  13. prune — to trim
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. content — the amount
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. club — for dancing
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. press — a publisher
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. press — to push
  23. content — happy
  24. stock — shares

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