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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. key — in music
  3. key — for a lock
  4. clip — for paper
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. present — there
  7. rash — a series
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. clip — a video
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. snap — to click
  13. present — a gift
  14. rash — hasty
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. ball — a dance
  18. cue — for pool
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. key — the most important part
  21. cue — a hint
  22. clip — to cut
  23. ball — a great time
  24. present — the time now

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