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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. last — final
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. staff — employees
  6. object — to protest
  7. object — an aim
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bat — the animal
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — in cards
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. staff — employees
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. last — finally
  19. staff — a stick
  20. cue — a hint
  21. cue — for pool
  22. object — a thing
  23. prune — to trim
  24. last — to go on

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