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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. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. ground — crushed
  3. club — for golf
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. game — a match
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cue — a signal
  8. march — the month
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. chip — to eat
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. ground — a position
  13. cold — not warm
  14. club — a group
  15. game — wild animals
  16. club — for dancing
  17. march — the month
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. ground — the earth
  20. march — music
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. chip — for betting
  23. cue — a hint
  24. straw — dry grass

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