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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. clip — a video
  4. spring — a coil
  5. rock — music
  6. kick — in football
  7. cue — a hint
  8. tube — a container
  9. spring — the season
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. clip — to cut
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. spring — of water
  16. hand — help
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. hand — in cards
  19. clip — for paper
  20. tube — the underground
  21. rock — a stone
  22. cue — for pool
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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