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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. wind — moving air
  8. row — a line
  9. game — wild animals
  10. band — a music group
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. row — to paddle
  13. cue — a hint
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. capital — money
  16. cue — for pool
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. capital — a city
  19. game — a match
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. wind — moving air
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. band — a ring

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