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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. swing — to play on
  5. swing — music
  6. band — a ring
  7. rash — a series
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. rash — hasty
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. bass — the fish
  12. band — a music group
  13. fork — in a road
  14. swing — in golf
  15. bass — low music
  16. game — a match
  17. march — the month
  18. rule — a law
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. game — wild animals
  22. march — the month
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. march — music

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