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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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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a ring
  4. march — the month
  5. face — to point toward
  6. craft — a skill
  7. cold — an illness
  8. craft — boats
  9. cue — a hint
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. face — part of the head
  15. march — music
  16. march — the month
  17. face — to confront
  18. cue — for pool

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