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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. cue — for pool
  4. wind — moving air
  5. chest — of your body
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. rock — music
  8. race — humankind
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. cue — a hint
  11. stock — shares
  12. hand — help
  13. rock — a stone
  14. chest — of your body
  15. mine — for digging
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. wind — moving air
  18. hand — in cards
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. race — the arms race
  21. race — a contest
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. stock — goods
  24. chest — a box

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