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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. file — a tool
  3. object — to protest
  4. hand — in cards
  5. rule — government
  6. object — a thing
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. rule — a law
  9. object — an aim
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. cue — for pool
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. kid — child
  16. cue — a hint
  17. hand — help
  18. file — a document
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. wind — moving air
  22. file — a line of people
  23. fork — in a road
  24. kid — to tease

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