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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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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: row · ground · mark · trunk · clip · club · face · cue

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. club — for dancing
  3. club — for golf
  4. mark — a trace
  5. club — a group
  6. cue — for pool
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. face — to point toward
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. row — to paddle
  12. cue — a hint
  13. clip — for paper
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. ground — a position
  17. clip — to cut
  18. ground — crushed
  19. clip — a video
  20. mark — a grade
  21. face — part of the head
  22. face — to confront
  23. row — a line
  24. ground — the earth

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