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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: cold · bass · mouse · rule · wind · spring · stick · degree

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. cold — an illness
  6. spring — of water
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bass — low music
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. degree — temperature
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. rule — government
  14. bass — the fish
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cold — not warm
  17. degree — an amount
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — the season
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. degree — from a university
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rule — a law
  24. wind — moving air

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