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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. game — wild animals
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. cue — a signal
  5. object — an aim
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. row — a line
  13. band — a ring
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. band — a music group
  16. cue — for pool
  17. cold — not warm
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. object — a thing
  20. row — to paddle
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. cue — a hint
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. game — a match

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