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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. cue — for pool
  6. cue — a signal
  7. cue — a hint
  8. board — a committee
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. board — to get on
  15. mate — to breed
  16. pound — a weight
  17. wake — a trail
  18. kid — child
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. mate — a friend
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mate — a partner
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pound — to hit hard

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