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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bound — certain
  5. bound — tied together
  6. bound — obliged
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cue — a hint
  9. kick — in football
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. cue — for pool
  12. cold — not warm
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. perch — the fish
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. chest — a box
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. chest — of your body
  20. press — to push
  21. press — a publisher
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. press — newspapers
  24. leaves — to go away

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