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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 120 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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. rush — hurry
  3. mug — a face
  4. clip — to cut
  5. rule — a law
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. clip — a video
  8. degree — an amount
  9. degree — from a university
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. mug — to rob
  12. degree — temperature
  13. clip — for paper
  14. rest — a break
  15. stock — shares
  16. mug — a cup
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. rule — government
  20. rest — what's left
  21. stock — goods
  22. rest — what's left
  23. cue — a hint
  24. cue — for pool

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