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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 116 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: cue · cell · last · rule · field · kid

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. cue — for pool
  5. rule — government
  6. kid — child
  7. field — a subject
  8. rule — a law
  9. last — to go on
  10. cue — a hint
  11. field — farmland
  12. last — final
  13. field — for sport
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. cell — in biology
  18. last — finally

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