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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. ground — a position
  4. cue — a signal
  5. ground — crushed
  6. cue — a hint
  7. tube — a container
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. bank — of a river
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. cold — an illness
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. bank — for money
  15. game — a match
  16. bank — for money
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. toast — bread
  20. chair — a leader
  21. game — wild animals
  22. ground — the earth
  23. cue — for pool
  24. cold — the Cold War

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