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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. file — a tool
  4. face — to confront
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. face — to point toward
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. cue — for pool
  10. file — a document
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. foot — a measure
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. face — part of the head
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. file — a line of people
  18. cue — a hint

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