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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. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. spring — a coil
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. clip — for paper
  8. ball — a dance
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. shower — rain
  11. cold — not warm
  12. ground — crushed
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — to cut
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. spring — the season
  17. cue — a hint
  18. ball — a great time
  19. ground — the earth
  20. spring — of water
  21. shower — to wash
  22. cue — a signal
  23. cold — an illness
  24. ground — a position

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