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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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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: band · cue · bulb · cold · perch · straw · drill · snap

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. cue — for pool
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. cold — an illness
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. band — a music group
  7. snap — to click
  8. band — a ring
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. bulb — for light
  11. drill — the tool
  12. cue — a hint
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. perch — the fish
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. cue — a signal
  19. cold — not warm
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. drill — army training
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bulb — of a plant

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