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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. sharp — clever
  3. chest — a box
  4. chest — of your body
  5. tube — the underground
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. cue — for pool
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. kid — child
  10. swing — music
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. swing — in golf
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. chest — of your body
  16. clip — to cut
  17. kid — to tease
  18. clip — a video
  19. tube — a container
  20. cue — a signal
  21. clip — for paper
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. swing — to play on

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