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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. cue — a hint
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. field — a subject
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. cold — an illness
  8. object — a thing
  9. drill — a practice
  10. cue — for pool
  11. cue — a signal
  12. wake — a trail
  13. rock — a stone
  14. drill — army training
  15. cold — not warm
  16. object — an aim
  17. field — farmland
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. field — for sport
  20. cell — in biology
  21. object — to protest
  22. rock — music
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. drill — the tool

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