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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 116 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. clip — to cut
  3. last — to go on
  4. last — finally
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. clip — for paper
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. shower — to wash
  10. spring — of water
  11. shower — rain
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. lean — thin
  14. lean — to bend
  15. spring — the season
  16. cue — a hint
  17. clip — a video
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. wax — to grow
  20. last — final
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. cue — for pool
  23. spring — a coil
  24. racket — for tennis

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