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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. cue — a signal
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bound — certain
  6. band — a ring
  7. content — happy
  8. rush — hurry
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. content — the amount
  11. scale — size or range
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. scale — in music
  14. hand — in cards
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. cue — a hint
  17. bound — obliged
  18. band — a music group
  19. cue — for pool
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bound — tied together
  23. bark — to shout
  24. content — videos and posts

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