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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 120 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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. kick — in football
  3. degree — from a university
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. degree — an amount
  6. spring — the season
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. cue — for pool
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. cue — a hint
  11. vault — a safe
  12. content — happy
  13. degree — temperature
  14. saw — the tool
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. land — to come down
  17. saw — the tool
  18. spring — a coil
  19. content — the amount
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. land — ground
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. spring — of water
  24. land — a country

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