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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 116 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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. cue — a signal
  3. clip — for paper
  4. field — for sport
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. degree — an amount
  7. rule — a law
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. clip — to cut
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. field — a subject
  14. rule — government
  15. cue — a hint
  16. field — farmland
  17. clip — a video
  18. deal — to handle
  19. rush — hurry
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. cue — for pool
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — from a university

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