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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. cue — a signal
  3. chest — of your body
  4. present — there
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cue — for pool
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. present — a gift
  11. file — a line of people
  12. chest — a box
  13. chest — of your body
  14. craft — boats
  15. file — a tool
  16. file — a document
  17. present — the time now
  18. row — a line
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. craft — a skill
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. row — to paddle
  23. cue — a hint
  24. craft — a handicraft

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