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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. cold — an illness
  3. track — a path
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cue — for pool
  6. cue — a hint
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. cue — a signal
  9. wound — an injury
  10. shower — rain
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. net — for catching
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. track — a song
  19. net — in sport
  20. net — after costs
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. shower — to wash
  24. track — to keep track

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