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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 120 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: cue · ruler · straw · pound · cold · last · mine · spring

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. spring — the season
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. last — to go on
  6. spring — of water
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. cue — a signal
  9. cue — a hint
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. mine — for digging
  13. last — finally
  14. cold — an illness
  15. spring — a coil
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. last — final
  19. pound — a weight
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. cue — for pool

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