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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. game — a match
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. cue — for pool
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. game — wild animals
  8. firm — a company
  9. firm — steady
  10. cue — a signal
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. row — to paddle
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. row — a line
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. plane — a tool
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. cold — an illness
  24. firm — decided

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