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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: season · mine · rule · face · wound · chair · pit · bass

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. season — of the year
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. rule — a law
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. chair — a leader
  8. bass — low music
  9. rule — government
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. face — to confront
  12. bass — the fish
  13. face — part of the head
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. pit — in a race
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. mine — for digging
  18. season — in sport
  19. pit — a hole
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. face — to point toward

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