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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 120 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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. cue — a hint
  3. content — happy
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. cold — not warm
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. cue — a signal
  8. pit — a hole
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. cue — for pool
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. snap — to click
  15. game — wild animals
  16. track — to keep track
  17. cold — an illness
  18. track — a path
  19. game — a match
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — the amount
  22. pound — a weight
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. track — a song

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