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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. cue — a hint
  3. cue — for pool
  4. last — final
  5. saw — the tool
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. cue — a signal
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. saw — the tool
  10. degree — from a university
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. degree — an amount
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. last — finally
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. hand — help
  20. last — to go on
  21. hand — in cards
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. degree — temperature
  24. dip — to sink

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