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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. pit — in a race
  3. bat — the animal
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. cue — for pool
  7. degree — from a university
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. drill — a practice
  10. ball — a dance
  11. ball — a great time
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. drill — army training
  16. sharp — clever
  17. degree — temperature
  18. pit — a hole
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. drill — the tool
  21. cue — a signal
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. sharp — with an edge

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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