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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. cue — a hint
  3. key — the most important part
  4. bat — the animal
  5. hand — in cards
  6. hand — help
  7. game — a match
  8. staff — employees
  9. perch — the fish
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. key — for a lock
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. staff — employees
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. staff — a stick
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. key — in music
  22. game — wild animals
  23. cue — for pool
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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