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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. cue — a hint
  5. toast — bread
  6. hand — in cards
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. shower — rain
  14. pitch — completely
  15. cue — for pool
  16. kid — child
  17. hand — help
  18. prune — to trim
  19. land — to come down
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. land — a country
  22. land — ground
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. pitch — a sports field

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