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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cue — a signal
  3. bear — the animal
  4. hand — help
  5. cold — an illness
  6. row — a line
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. cue — for pool
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. cue — a hint
  11. hand — in cards
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. row — to paddle
  16. scale — in music
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bulb — for light
  19. scale — size or range
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bulb — for light
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. bear — to put up with

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