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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. cue — for pool
  4. cue — a signal
  5. cell — in biology
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cue — a hint
  8. field — a subject
  9. field — for sport
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. tear — from crying
  13. field — farmland
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. kid — to tease
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. tear — to rip
  18. cell — a phone
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. trunk — of a car

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