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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. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. cue — for pool
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. fall — the season
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — wild animals
  13. press — newspapers
  14. cue — a hint
  15. prune — to trim
  16. game — a match
  17. plane — a tool
  18. wind — moving air
  19. fall — to drop
  20. bark — to shout
  21. press — to push
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. press — a publisher
  24. plane — in geometry

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