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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. game — a match
  4. track — a path
  5. track — a song
  6. fall — to drop
  7. saw — the tool
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cue — a signal
  10. cue — for pool
  11. clip — for paper
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. saw — the tool
  14. track — to keep track
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. clip — to cut
  17. perch — the fish
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. fall — to drop
  22. clip — a video
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. fall — the season

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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