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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. clip — for paper
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. spring — the season
  6. snap — to click
  7. swing — in golf
  8. clip — a video
  9. cue — a hint
  10. hand — help
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. root — the cause
  13. clip — to cut
  14. swing — music
  15. spring — of water
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. hand — in cards
  19. root — of a word
  20. cue — for pool
  21. root — of a plant
  22. spring — a coil
  23. bass — low music
  24. swing — to play on

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