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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. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. cue — a hint
  3. cold — an illness
  4. spell — letters
  5. cold — not warm
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. press — a publisher
  8. perch — the fish
  9. press — to push
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. chest — of your body
  12. spell — magic
  13. spell — a short time
  14. cue — a signal
  15. squash — the sport
  16. squash — to crush
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. chest — a box
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. press — newspapers
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. deal — to handle

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