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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. spring — the season
  3. band — a ring
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. track — a path
  6. press — a publisher
  7. craft — boats
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. game — a match
  10. spring — a coil
  11. press — to push
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. track — to keep track
  14. craft — a skill
  15. game — wild animals
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. spring — of water
  18. cue — for pool
  19. cue — a hint
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. bat — the animal
  22. press — newspapers
  23. band — a music group
  24. track — a song

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