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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. present — there
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. mug — a cup
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. cue — a signal
  8. mug — to rob
  9. row — a line
  10. wax — to grow
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. present — a gift
  13. cue — for pool
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. row — to paddle
  21. plane — a tool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mug — a face
  24. present — the time now

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