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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 116 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. ground — the earth
  3. scale — size or range
  4. spell — magic
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. march — music
  7. march — the month
  8. rule — government
  9. march — the month
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. spell — a short time
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. bass — the fish
  15. rule — a law
  16. scale — in music
  17. ground — crushed
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. ground — a position
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. spell — letters
  24. cold — an illness

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