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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. face — part of the head
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. cue — for pool
  5. face — to point toward
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. wound — an injury
  8. capital — money
  9. fine — all right
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. rash — hasty
  12. fine — high quality
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wound — an injury
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. face — to confront
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. cold — an illness
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. capital — a city
  22. rash — a series
  23. cue — a signal
  24. racket — for tennis

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