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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: scale · press · wax · trunk · row · rule · bat · stock

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. wax — to grow
  3. press — a publisher
  4. scale — in music
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. press — to push
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. rule — government
  10. stock — goods
  11. row — a line
  12. scale — size or range
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. row — to paddle
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. stock — shares
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. press — newspapers

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