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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. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. cue — a signal
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. rest — what's left
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. degree — an amount
  9. rest — a break
  10. capital — money
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — the animal
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — an illness
  15. degree — temperature
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. capital — a city
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — the fruit
  21. rest — what's left
  22. degree — from a university
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. cue — a hint

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