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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. cue — for pool
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. cue — a signal
  7. chip — to eat
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. chair — a leader
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. kid — to tease
  12. snap — to click
  13. present — the time now
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. spring — the season
  16. cue — a hint
  17. spring — of water
  18. present — a gift
  19. chip — for betting
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. spring — a coil
  22. date — the fruit
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. kid — child

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