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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 tickets are free of ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. sharp — clever
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. cue — a hint
  5. cue — a signal
  6. game — a match
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. cue — for pool
  11. field — farmland
  12. charge — in control
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. charge — electricity
  15. game — wild animals
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. snap — to click
  18. field — for sport
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. field — a subject
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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