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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. cap — of ice
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. game — a match
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. cap — a lid
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cue — a signal
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. bark — to shout
  11. cold — an illness
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. game — wild animals
  14. wake — a trail
  15. cue — for pool
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — not warm
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. deal — to handle
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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