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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. swing — to play on
  3. swing — music
  4. cue — a hint
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. swing — in golf
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. row — a line
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. cue — for pool
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — to paddle
  24. capital — money

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