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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: bay · bass · chest · tear · fork · rash · rule · wind

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. rule — a law
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. rash — a series
  6. bass — low music
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bass — the fish
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. tear — to rip
  17. rash — hasty
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. rule — government
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. chest — of your body
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fork — to eat with

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