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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. rule — government
  3. net — for catching
  4. snap — to click
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. bass — low music
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. net — in sport
  9. file — a tool
  10. last — to go on
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. track — a song
  13. bass — the fish
  14. march — music
  15. file — a line of people
  16. march — the month
  17. last — final
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. march — the month
  20. file — a document
  21. track — to keep track
  22. rule — a law
  23. net — after costs
  24. last — finally

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