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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. degree — an amount
  4. march — the month
  5. cue — for pool
  6. snap — to click
  7. chip — to eat
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. fork — in a road
  11. cue — a signal
  12. march — the month
  13. safe — a strongbox
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. cold — not warm
  18. chip — for betting
  19. degree — temperature
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. cold — an illness
  22. march — music
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. degree — from a university

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