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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 · snap · rule · cabinet · branch · ground · content · cold

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. 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. rule — to rule out
  2. ground — the earth
  3. rule — government
  4. content — the amount
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. cold — not warm
  8. snap — to click
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. ground — a position
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. bass — the fish
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. content — happy
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. ground — crushed
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. branch — a division
  22. rule — a law
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. 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