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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. pop — to visit
  5. rule — a law
  6. game — a match
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. pop — soda
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. rash — a series
  12. pop — music
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. wax — to grow
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. march — the month
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. march — music
  19. march — the month
  20. rule — government
  21. game — wild animals
  22. rash — hasty
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. wax — in the ear

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