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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wax — to grow
  3. race — the arms race
  4. prune — to trim
  5. ground — the earth
  6. chip — to eat
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. rule — a law
  9. race — humankind
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. rule — government
  12. ground — crushed
  13. cell — a phone
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — an amount
  16. race — a contest
  17. cell — in biology
  18. degree — temperature
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. prune — to trim
  22. chip — for betting
  23. ground — a position
  24. prune — the fruit

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