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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 120 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 · chest · racket · cold · spring · bass · squash · craft

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. chest — of your body
  5. craft — a skill
  6. spring — the season
  7. rule — government
  8. craft — boats
  9. spring — a coil
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. squash — to crush
  13. bass — the fish
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. cold — an illness
  16. rule — a law
  17. cold — not warm
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spring — of water
  21. chest — a box
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. squash — the sport

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