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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: swing · last · safe · band · rule · bat · cold · pass

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Is it ________________ for us to be here?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. band — a music group
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. swing — in golf
  8. pass — a permit
  9. last — to go on
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. swing — to play on
  12. rule — a law
  13. last — final
  14. band — a ring
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. rule — government
  19. last — finally
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. swing — music
  23. cold — not warm
  24. safe — out of danger

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