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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 116 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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. cue — a hint
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. field — farmland
  5. game — a match
  6. field — a subject
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. drill — army training
  10. cue — for pool
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. field — for sport
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. drill — the tool
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. game — wild animals
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. drill — a practice

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