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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: snap · degree · hand · chair · bass · patient · land · rule

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. snap — to click
  4. degree — an amount
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. chair — a leader
  9. rule — government
  10. bass — the fish
  11. rule — a law
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. land — to come down
  14. land — a country
  15. land — ground
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. degree — from a university
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. hand — in cards
  20. degree — temperature
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. hand — help

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