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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 124 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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. rule — a law
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. row — a line
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a city
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. march — music
  13. chair — a leader
  14. march — the month
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. march — the month
  18. row — to paddle
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. date — the fruit
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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