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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. rule — a law
  3. cold — not warm
  4. file — a line of people
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. cold — an illness
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. tear — to rip
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. charge — in control
  12. tear — from crying
  13. file — a document
  14. file — a tool
  15. cue — a hint
  16. cue — for pool
  17. tear — from crying
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. rule — government
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. charge — a price
  23. charge — electricity
  24. cold — the Cold War

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