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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. wind — moving air
  3. cue — a hint
  4. cue — for pool
  5. squash — to crush
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. cap — of ice
  9. squash — the sport
  10. last — final
  11. clip — a video
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. last — to go on
  14. rash — a series
  15. cue — a signal
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bark — to shout
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. clip — to cut
  22. cap — a lid
  23. rash — hasty
  24. cap — a hat

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