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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. rule — a law
  5. rule — government
  6. scale — size or range
  7. row — to paddle
  8. spring — a coil
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. spring — of water
  11. saw — the tool
  12. degree — from a university
  13. scale — in music
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. spring — the season
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. rush — hurry
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. wax — to grow
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — temperature
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. row — a line
  24. saw — 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