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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: cue · wound · mate · roll · cold · face · racket · fork

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. face — part of the head
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. mate — a friend
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. roll — a cake
  9. cue — a signal
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. cold — not warm
  12. roll — a list
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. face — to point toward
  15. cue — for pool
  16. cold — an illness
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. face — to confront
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. mate — to breed
  22. fork — in a road
  23. cue — a hint
  24. cold — the Cold War

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