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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cue — a signal
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cue — for pool
  5. cue — a hint
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. row — to paddle
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. row — a line
  11. bat — the animal
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. sharp — clever
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. sharp — exactly

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