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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. rule — government
  3. bass — the fish
  4. chip — for betting
  5. squash — the sport
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wound — an injury
  8. rush — hurry
  9. file — a line of people
  10. bass — low music
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. file — a tool
  17. wind — moving air
  18. file — a document
  19. chip — to eat
  20. wound — an injury
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. rule — a law
  23. squash — to crush
  24. chip — in a computer

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