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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 116 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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. track — a path
  4. track — a song
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. spell — letters
  7. cue — for pool
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. spell — magic
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. cue — a hint
  13. file — a line of people
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. dip — to sink
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. track — to keep track
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a tool
  20. scale — in music
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. spell — a short time
  24. scale — size or range

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