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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. cue — a hint
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. cue — for pool
  9. ground — crushed
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. chair — a leader
  13. bore — to drill
  14. roll — a cake
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. ground — the earth
  17. degree — an amount
  18. ground — a position
  19. bore — to tire
  20. degree — temperature
  21. pound — a weight
  22. prune — to trim
  23. degree — from a university
  24. roll — a list

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