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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. cold — an illness
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cue — a signal
  5. cue — a hint
  6. bank — of a river
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. game — a match
  9. cue — for pool
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. bank — for money
  12. cold — not warm
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. root — of a plant
  15. pop — soda
  16. pop — music
  17. bank — for money
  18. game — wild animals
  19. root — the cause
  20. pop — to visit
  21. root — of a word
  22. hand — help
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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