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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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Word bank
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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 · lean · hand · cell · land · nail

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. hand — help
  3. cue — a signal
  4. lean — to bend
  5. land — a country
  6. land — to come down
  7. land — ground
  8. lean — thin
  9. hand — in cards
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. cue — for pool
  18. cell — in biology

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