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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. rock — music
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. cue — a signal
  9. cue — for pool
  10. snap — to click
  11. pound — a weight
  12. chair — a leader
  13. spring — the season
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. fork — in a road
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. rock — a stone
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. spring — a coil
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. spring — of water
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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