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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cue — a hint
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. bass — the fish
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cue — for pool
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bass — low music
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. prune — to trim
  14. kick — in football
  15. cue — a signal
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. prune — to trim
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. mine — for digging

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