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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 are we going to ________________?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. kid — child
  3. cue — a signal
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. cue — for pool
  8. content — happy
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. land — ground
  12. land — a country
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. content — the amount
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. prune — to trim
  17. wound — an injury
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. kid — to tease
  21. cue — a hint
  22. wound — an injury
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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