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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 124 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. race — a contest
  3. spell — letters
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. file — a line of people
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. cue — for pool
  8. race — humankind
  9. spell — magic
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. file — a document
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. file — a tool
  16. cold — not warm
  17. spell — a short time
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cue — a hint
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bark — to shout
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. race — the arms race

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