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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. swing — music
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. cue — a hint
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. swing — to play on
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. clip — a video
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. rule — government
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. rule — a law
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. pound — a weight
  16. clip — for paper
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. swing — in golf
  19. clip — to cut
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. cue — for pool
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. nail — on a finger

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