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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. bound — obliged
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. stock — shares
  5. bound — certain
  6. last — finally
  7. last — final
  8. wax — to grow
  9. stock — goods
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. capital — a city
  13. rule — a law
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. clip — for paper
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. rule — government
  22. bound — tied together
  23. capital — money
  24. last — to go on

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