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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. cue — a signal
  3. cold — an illness
  4. saw — the tool
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. row — a line
  8. branch — a division
  9. cold — not warm
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. cue — a hint
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. row — to paddle
  14. saw — the tool
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. squash — to crush
  17. cue — for pool
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. sharp — clever
  23. bark — to shout
  24. row — a quarrel

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