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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. bound — obliged
  3. mine — for digging
  4. degree — an amount
  5. bound — certain
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. degree — temperature
  9. row — a line
  10. saw — the tool
  11. wind — moving air
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. squash — to crush
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. cue — for pool
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bound — tied together
  19. squash — the sport
  20. saw — the tool
  21. cue — a hint
  22. row — to paddle
  23. wind — moving air
  24. squash — the vegetable

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