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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. fine — high quality
  3. fork — in a road
  4. field — for sport
  5. scale — in music
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. cue — for pool
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. charge — electricity
  12. fine — all right
  13. field — farmland
  14. scale — size or range
  15. dip — to sink
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. field — a subject
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — rain
  20. charge — in control
  21. charge — a price
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. cue — a hint
  24. fork — a garden tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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