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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: squash · bass · field · scale · tear · sharp · drill · rule

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. sharp — clever
  5. tear — to rip
  6. tear — from crying
  7. field — a subject
  8. drill — army training
  9. bass — low music
  10. field — farmland
  11. squash — the sport
  12. squash — to crush
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. scale — in music
  15. drill — a practice
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. bass — the fish
  18. drill — the tool
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. scale — size or range
  21. rule — a law
  22. tear — from crying
  23. field — for sport
  24. rule — government

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