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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. pop — to visit
  3. court — of a king
  4. bass — low music
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. court — for sport
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — in music
  10. rule — a law
  11. court — of law
  12. pop — music
  13. clip — for paper
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. clip — a video
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. clip — to cut
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. bass — the fish
  22. pop — soda
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. trunk — of a car

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