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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. club — for dancing
  3. tear — from crying
  4. stock — goods
  5. tear — from crying
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. kid — to tease
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. date — the fruit
  12. present — the time now
  13. cue — for pool
  14. present — a gift
  15. tear — to rip
  16. present — there
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. cue — a signal
  19. club — for golf
  20. club — a group
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. stock — shares
  24. kid — child

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