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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. mate — a friend
  3. squash — the sport
  4. shower — to wash
  5. squash — to crush
  6. bark — to shout
  7. last — finally
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. tube — the underground
  10. cue — a hint
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. last — to go on
  14. mate — to breed
  15. tube — a container
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — money
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. mate — a partner
  21. shower — rain
  22. last — final
  23. cue — for pool
  24. tube — in a tire

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