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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. stem — to come from
  3. tube — the underground
  4. spell — letters
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. season — of the year
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. deal — to handle
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. season — in sport
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. spell — a short time
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — an illness
  19. content — happy
  20. cue — for pool
  21. cue — a hint
  22. spell — magic
  23. tube — a container
  24. content — the amount

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