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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. spell — a short time
  3. game — wild animals
  4. rule — a law
  5. spell — magic
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. last — to go on
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rash — a series
  10. stem — to come from
  11. rule — government
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. spell — letters
  14. march — the month
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. last — finally
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. bass — the fish
  19. march — music
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. march — the month
  22. bass — low music
  23. last — final
  24. game — a match

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