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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: clip · cue · root · cell · court · race

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. clip — a video
  3. race — a contest
  4. cue — for pool
  5. court — of a king
  6. court — for sport
  7. cell — a phone
  8. root — the cause
  9. court — of law
  10. race — humankind
  11. root — of a plant
  12. root — of a word
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. clip — for paper
  15. cue — a hint
  16. clip — to cut
  17. cell — in biology
  18. race — the arms race

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