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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'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. board — a committee
  3. bank — for money
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. clip — to cut
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — a city
  9. shower — to wash
  10. last — final
  11. clip — for paper
  12. last — finally
  13. cue — a hint
  14. shower — rain
  15. bank — for money
  16. last — to go on
  17. clip — a video
  18. pit — a hole
  19. pit — in a race
  20. capital — money
  21. bank — of a river
  22. cue — for pool
  23. board — to get on
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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