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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. pop — soda
  3. content — the amount
  4. pop — to visit
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cue — a signal
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. content — happy
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cold — not warm
  11. foot — a measure
  12. mark — a trace
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. cue — a hint
  15. key — for a lock
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. wound — an injury
  18. key — the most important part
  19. mark — a grade
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. pop — music
  22. cue — for pool
  23. key — in music
  24. cold — the Cold War

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