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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. degree — an amount
  3. ball — a great time
  4. degree — from a university
  5. field — for sport
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. degree — temperature
  8. cue — a hint
  9. rule — government
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. field — farmland
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. rule — a law
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. cue — for pool
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. field — a subject
  21. ball — a dance
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. tear — to rip
  24. tear — from crying

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