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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. cue — a hint
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. tube — a container
  5. cue — for pool
  6. net — after costs
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. tube — the underground
  10. wind — moving air
  11. swing — to play on
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. swing — music
  15. foot — a measure
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. net — for catching
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. cold — an illness
  20. swing — in golf
  21. cold — not warm
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. net — in sport
  24. straw — dry grass

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