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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. kid — child
  4. face — part of the head
  5. tear — from crying
  6. face — to confront
  7. face — to point toward
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. tear — to rip
  10. rash — hasty
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cold — not warm
  16. sharp — clever
  17. cue — a hint
  18. cold — an illness
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. rash — a series
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. kid — to tease
  23. cue — for pool
  24. cell — a phone

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