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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 116 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. wound — an injury
  3. mug — a cup
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. rash — hasty
  7. cue — for pool
  8. cue — a hint
  9. field — a subject
  10. mug — a face
  11. spell — magic
  12. snap — to click
  13. spell — a short time
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. field — farmland
  16. bat — the animal
  17. spell — letters
  18. mug — to rob
  19. rash — a series
  20. wound — an injury
  21. field — for sport
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. rash — on the skin

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