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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 120 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. staff — a stick
  3. file — a document
  4. cue — a hint
  5. staff — employees
  6. cue — a signal
  7. last — finally
  8. hand — in cards
  9. file — a tool
  10. bound — certain
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bound — obliged
  13. pop — soda
  14. last — to go on
  15. bound — tied together
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. pop — music
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. pop — to visit
  20. cue — for pool
  21. file — a line of people
  22. hand — help
  23. last — final
  24. staff — employees

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