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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. cue — a hint
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. net — for catching
  5. cue — for pool
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rest — what's left
  8. pitch — completely
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. plane — a tool
  12. rest — a break
  13. cue — a signal
  14. cold — not warm
  15. degree — an amount
  16. rest — what's left
  17. wake — a trail
  18. degree — temperature
  19. net — after costs
  20. cold — an illness
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. net — in sport
  24. degree — from a university

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