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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: cell · bark · staff · cold · cue · present · track · mine

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. cell — in a prison
  2. cue — a hint
  3. staff — a stick
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. bark — to shout
  6. cell — a phone
  7. mine — for digging
  8. present — there
  9. cold — not warm
  10. track — to keep track
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. cold — an illness
  14. present — the time now
  15. staff — employees
  16. track — a song
  17. cue — a signal
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. track — a path
  20. present — a gift
  21. cell — in biology
  22. staff — employees
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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