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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. cue — a hint
  3. object — an aim
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. cue — for pool
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. cue — a signal
  11. row — a line
  12. sharp — clever
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. band — a ring
  16. object — a thing
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. object — to protest
  20. row — to paddle
  21. bat — the animal
  22. wind — moving air
  23. band — a music group
  24. row — a quarrel

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