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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: wound · straw · chest · pass · bass · stock · race · rule

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. chest — of your body
  3. race — the arms race
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. pass — a permit
  6. chest — a box
  7. bass — low music
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. wound — an injury
  12. stock — shares
  13. stock — goods
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bass — the fish
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. race — a contest
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. rule — government
  24. rule — a law

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