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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. band — a ring
  3. row — to paddle
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fall — to drop
  6. rest — what's left
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. row — a line
  12. fall — the season
  13. rest — a break
  14. fall — to drop
  15. band — a music group
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cue — for pool
  20. cue — a hint
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rest — what's left
  24. cold — not warm

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