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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: pitcher · ground · chest · spell · rest · current · bass · rule

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bass — the fish
  3. rest — what's left
  4. current — happening now
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bass — low music
  8. current — electric
  9. chest — a box
  10. rest — what's left
  11. ground — crushed
  12. rule — government
  13. chest — of your body
  14. ground — a position
  15. rest — a break
  16. chest — of your body
  17. ground — the earth
  18. current — of water
  19. spell — magic
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. rule — a law
  23. spell — letters
  24. spell — a short time

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