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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. cue — for pool
  3. cue — a hint
  4. rush — hurry
  5. clip — a video
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. spring — of water
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — for paper
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — farmland
  12. spring — the season
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cue — a signal
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. spring — a coil
  18. kid — to tease
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. field — a subject
  21. kid — child
  22. degree — temperature
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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