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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: rash · chair · cold · straw · mate · prune · rule · bass

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. rule — government
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. bass — low music
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. bass — the fish
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. cold — an illness
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. mate — to breed
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — a leader
  20. rash — a series
  21. rule — a law
  22. prune — to trim
  23. mate — a friend
  24. mate — a partner

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