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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. cell — a phone
  4. club — for dancing
  5. club — for golf
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. cue — a signal
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cell — in biology
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. pass — a permit
  16. shower — rain
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. fork — in a road
  20. club — a group
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. cue — a hint
  24. cue — for pool

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