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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: rule · bass · race · charge · clip · land · snap · object

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. land — to come down
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. land — ground
  5. bass — low music
  6. rule — a law
  7. rule — government
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. race — humankind
  10. clip — to cut
  11. snap — to click
  12. object — a thing
  13. object — an aim
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. charge — electricity
  16. race — the arms race
  17. clip — a video
  18. charge — a price
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. charge — in control
  21. object — to protest
  22. race — a contest
  23. land — a country
  24. bass — the fish

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