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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. game — wild animals
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. present — a gift
  8. game — a match
  9. cue — for pool
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. rock — a stone
  14. rock — music
  15. present — there
  16. cold — an illness
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. wax — to grow
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. present — the time now
  22. mine — for digging
  23. cue — a signal
  24. cold — not warm

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