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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: safe · row · pound · chest · fan · cue · bark · cold

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. pound — a weight
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. cue — a hint
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. chest — of your body
  9. row — to paddle
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. row — a line
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cue — for pool
  22. bark — to shout
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. chest — a box

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