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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.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. deal — to handle
  4. cue — for pool
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. cold — not warm
  8. band — a music group
  9. cold — an illness
  10. shower — to wash
  11. cue — a signal
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. shower — rain
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. cue — a hint
  18. deal — a big deal

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