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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. pop — to visit
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. pop — music
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. cue — a signal
  11. cold — an illness
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a city
  14. date — the fruit
  15. plane — a tool
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. pop — soda
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cue — for pool
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bear — the animal

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