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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  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. rule — government
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. rule — a law
  4. squash — to crush
  5. squash — the sport
  6. bass — low music
  7. court — for sport
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. swing — music
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. swing — in golf
  12. snap — to click
  13. cold — not warm
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. court — of law
  17. spell — magic
  18. spell — a short time
  19. court — of a king
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. bass — the fish
  22. spell — letters
  23. swing — to play on
  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