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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rule · drill · cold · wind · cue · mouse

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. rule — government
  7. drill — a practice
  8. wind — moving air
  9. drill — army training
  10. rule — a law
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cue — a signal
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. drill — the tool
  15. cue — for pool
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. cold — not warm
  18. rule — to rule out

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