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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: degree · tear · cue · cold · spell · chair · key · staff

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. staff — a stick
  3. spell — a short time
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cue — a hint
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. tear — to rip
  10. cue — a signal
  11. spell — letters
  12. staff — employees
  13. degree — from a university
  14. chair — a leader
  15. key — for a lock
  16. staff — employees
  17. key — the most important part
  18. tear — from crying
  19. degree — temperature
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. spell — magic
  22. cue — for pool
  23. degree — an amount
  24. key — in music

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