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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. cue — a hint
  4. shower — to wash
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — in cards
  7. degree — temperature
  8. club — for golf
  9. drill — army training
  10. bound — tied together
  11. degree — from a university
  12. bound — certain
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. drill — the tool
  15. club — a group
  16. cue — for pool
  17. shower — rain
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. bound — obliged
  21. drill — a practice
  22. degree — an amount
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. club — for dancing

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