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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. race — the arms race
  3. spell — magic
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — help
  6. wound — an injury
  7. spring — the season
  8. hand — in cards
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wound — an injury
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. deal — to handle
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. spring — a coil
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — humankind
  17. spell — letters
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spring — of water
  20. cue — for pool
  21. wake — a trail
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. cue — a hint
  24. deal — a big deal

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