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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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Word bank
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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: key · firm · roll · rash · spell · bass · rule · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — a short time
  4. bass — the fish
  5. roll — a list
  6. spell — magic
  7. firm — a company
  8. key — the most important part
  9. bass — low music
  10. rule — a law
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. roll — a cake
  14. rash — a series
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. firm — decided
  17. key — in music
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. key — for a lock
  20. rash — hasty
  21. rule — government
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. firm — steady

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