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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. row — a line
  3. rule — a law
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. shower — to wash
  8. rule — government
  9. cold — not warm
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. bass — low music
  14. bass — the fish
  15. row — to paddle
  16. scale — size or range
  17. present — there
  18. present — the time now
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. present — a gift
  23. scale — in music
  24. shower — rain

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