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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: cabinet · arm · mine · stick · spring · cold · tear · cue

  1. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. spring — a coil
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. mine — for digging
  9. tear — from crying
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. cue — a signal
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. spring — the season
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cue — a hint
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — an illness
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. spring — of water
  24. cabinet — ministers

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