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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 120 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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. march — music
  7. march — the month
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. pop — to visit
  10. clip — a video
  11. pop — soda
  12. march — the month
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — to cut
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — child
  17. pop — music
  18. field — farmland
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. kid — to tease
  22. cue — a hint
  23. cue — for pool
  24. bowl — a dish

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