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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 120 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'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. cue — a signal
  3. bulb — for light
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. field — a subject
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bulb — for light
  12. cell — a phone
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. field — for sport
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. vault — a safe
  20. cue — for pool
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. cell — in biology
  24. field — farmland

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