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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: chair · wind · field · lie · spell · cue · content · net

  1. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. content — happy
  4. wind — moving air
  5. spell — letters
  6. field — a subject
  7. cue — a signal
  8. spell — magic
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — after costs
  11. wind — moving air
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. spell — a short time
  16. net — for catching
  17. lie — to recline
  18. content — the amount
  19. cue — a hint
  20. chair — a leader
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. field — farmland
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. field — for sport

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