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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. chest — of your body
  4. drill — a practice
  5. vault — a safe
  6. track — to keep track
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. chest — a box
  9. tube — the underground
  10. cue — a hint
  11. drill — the tool
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. track — a path
  14. tube — a container
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — to shout
  18. drill — army training
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. track — a song
  23. cue — for pool
  24. straw — a straw man

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