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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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. drill — a practice
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bat — the animal
  9. chair — a leader
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. drill — the tool
  14. rule — a law
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. wake — a trail
  17. cold — not warm
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. bass — the fish
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bass — low music
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. rule — government
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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