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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. cue — a signal
  3. ball — a dance
  4. spring — a coil
  5. capital — money
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spring — the season
  8. suit — in cards
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. ball — a great time
  11. suit — to fit
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. field — for sport
  14. spring — of water
  15. field — farmland
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. capital — a city
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cue — a hint
  20. suit — clothes
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. cue — for pool
  24. field — a subject

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