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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. mate — to breed
  4. game — a match
  5. rule — a law
  6. bass — low music
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. saw — the tool
  9. rule — government
  10. bass — the fish
  11. mate — a partner
  12. cold — an illness
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chair — a leader
  15. mate — a friend
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cold — not warm
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. game — wild animals

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