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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. cue — for pool
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. ball — a dance
  6. file — a line of people
  7. cue — a hint
  8. file — a tool
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. pop — music
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. pop — soda
  17. ball — a great time
  18. pop — to visit
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. file — a document
  21. pound — a weight
  22. cue — a signal
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. nail — on a finger

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