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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. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — a leader
  7. game — a match
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. court — for sport
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. perch — the fish
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. cue — a signal
  14. court — of a king
  15. cue — a hint
  16. dip — to sink
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. court — of law
  19. clip — to cut
  20. game — wild animals
  21. clip — for paper
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. clip — a video

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