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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.

Make a worksheet

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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bass — the fish
  3. cue — a signal
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bass — low music
  6. clip — for paper
  7. kick — in football
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. cue — for pool
  12. bore — to drill
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — a video
  15. bore — to tire
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. cue — a hint
  18. kick — with a leg

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