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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 120 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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. club — for dancing
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. cold — an illness
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. club — a group
  14. rule — government
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bat — the animal
  17. rule — a law
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bass — the fish
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. club — for golf

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