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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: hide · last · cue · track · field · snap · wind · chair

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. last — to go on
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. field — for sport
  6. last — finally
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. chair — a leader
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. track — a path
  13. wind — moving air
  14. last — final
  15. cue — for pool
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. cue — a hint
  18. track — a song
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. snap — to click
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — a subject
  24. track — to keep track

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