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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cue — for pool
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bear — the animal
  10. field — for sport
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. rush — hurry
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. last — to go on
  17. cue — a hint
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bear — the animal
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — farmland
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. wound — an injury

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