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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. cue — for pool
  3. bat — the animal
  4. kick — in football
  5. land — to come down
  6. game — wild animals
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. field — a subject
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. land — a country
  11. spring — a coil
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. land — ground
  15. field — farmland
  16. cue — a signal
  17. game — a match
  18. spring — the season
  19. field — for sport
  20. spring — of water
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. kick — with a leg

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