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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. cue — a hint
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. content — happy
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. roll — a list
  7. vault — a safe
  8. field — a subject
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. field — for sport
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. content — the amount
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. field — farmland
  17. capital — a city
  18. cue — for pool
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. roll — a cake
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. capital — money
  24. content — videos and posts

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