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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bass · cell · march · rule · stock · snap

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. rule — government
  4. march — music
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. snap — to click
  7. stock — shares
  8. bass — the fish
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. march — the month
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. rule — a law
  15. stock — goods
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — a phone
  18. bass — low 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