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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 116 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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. cue — a hint
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cue — a signal
  5. prune — to trim
  6. fall — to drop
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. face — part of the head
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. game — wild animals
  13. fall — to drop
  14. prune — to trim
  15. shower — to wash
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. fall — the season
  18. cold — not warm
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. cue — for pool
  21. game — a match
  22. face — to confront
  23. shower — rain
  24. vault — a safe

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