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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 116 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: rule · game · hand · bass · ground · perch · tear · spring

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bass — low music
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. spring — the season
  5. perch — the fish
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. game — a match
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. spring — of water
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. game — wild animals
  13. spring — a coil
  14. tear — to rip
  15. rule — a law
  16. ground — the earth
  17. ground — crushed
  18. ground — a position
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — in cards
  21. tear — from crying
  22. rule — government
  23. tear — from crying
  24. rule — to rule out

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