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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. chest — of your body
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. board — to get on
  5. chest — a box
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. shower — to wash
  8. spell — magic
  9. board — a committee
  10. cue — for pool
  11. spell — letters
  12. cue — a hint
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — the animal
  17. chest — of your body
  18. spell — a short time
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. rush — hurry
  21. plane — a tool
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — rain
  24. plane — in geometry

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