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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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Word bank
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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. wind — moving air
  3. cue — a hint
  4. game — wild animals
  5. last — finally
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. file — a line of people
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — child
  11. last — to go on
  12. lie — to recline
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. file — a tool
  15. cue — for pool
  16. file — a document
  17. last — final
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. wind — moving air
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. game — a match

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