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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. mark — a trace
  4. land — a country
  5. cold — not warm
  6. rule — government
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. land — ground
  9. bound — obliged
  10. cold — an illness
  11. clip — for paper
  12. mark — a grade
  13. bound — certain
  14. spell — a short time
  15. land — to come down
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bound — tied together
  19. rule — a law
  20. spell — magic
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bass — low music
  23. bass — the fish
  24. spell — letters

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