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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: tear · rule · hide · bat · bass · club

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. 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. tear — from crying
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. rule — a law
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. rule — government
  6. club — a group
  7. tear — to rip
  8. bass — low music
  9. tear — from crying
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. club — for dancing
  17. bass — the fish
  18. 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