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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. last — finally
  3. ground — a position
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. wound — an injury
  6. ground — crushed
  7. deal — to handle
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cue — for pool
  11. last — final
  12. last — to go on
  13. clip — a video
  14. pound — a weight
  15. mine — for digging
  16. clip — for paper
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cue — a hint
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. ground — the earth

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