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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 116 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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. net — after costs
  3. cue — a hint
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. cue — for pool
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. last — final
  8. stem — to come from
  9. file — a document
  10. cue — a signal
  11. mine — for digging
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. last — finally
  14. file — a line of people
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. game — a match
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. net — in sport
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. net — for catching
  21. file — a tool
  22. game — wild animals
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. stem — of a plant

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