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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cue — a signal
  3. cue — for pool
  4. present — a gift
  5. spring — a coil
  6. cue — a hint
  7. bass — low music
  8. plane — a tool
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bore — to tire
  11. bore — to drill
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. present — there
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — of water
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. bass — the fish
  21. present — the time now
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. bass — the instrument

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