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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. shower — to wash
  3. wake — a trail
  4. key — the most important part
  5. cue — a hint
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cap — a lid
  9. cap — of ice
  10. game — wild animals
  11. cue — for pool
  12. cue — a signal
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. cap — a hat
  17. key — for a lock
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. key — in music
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. shower — rain
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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