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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. rule — government
  4. firm — decided
  5. drill — a practice
  6. rule — a law
  7. firm — steady
  8. land — to come down
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. pit — a hole
  11. drill — army training
  12. land — a country
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. firm — a company
  18. cell — a phone
  19. stock — shares
  20. pit — in a race
  21. cell — in biology
  22. stock — goods
  23. land — ground
  24. drill — the tool

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