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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 120 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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. net — in sport
  3. craft — boats
  4. staff — employees
  5. court — of law
  6. cue — a hint
  7. craft — a skill
  8. clip — to cut
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. kick — in football
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. court — for sport
  13. staff — a stick
  14. clip — for paper
  15. court — of a king
  16. clip — a video
  17. cue — for pool
  18. net — for catching
  19. net — after costs
  20. staff — employees
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. march — the month

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