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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 120 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. cue — a hint
  3. present — a gift
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. pop — music
  6. cue — for pool
  7. present — there
  8. last — final
  9. game — a match
  10. file — a line of people
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bear — the animal
  14. cue — a signal
  15. wake — a trail
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. file — a tool
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. file — a document
  20. last — to go on
  21. present — the time now
  22. pop — soda
  23. last — finally
  24. bear — the animal

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