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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: cue · hand · drill · key · clip · bat · foot · wound

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. drill — the tool
  3. clip — a video
  4. bat — the animal
  5. hand — help
  6. key — the most important part
  7. foot — a measure
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. drill — army training
  14. clip — to cut
  15. hand — in cards
  16. clip — for paper
  17. key — in music
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. key — for a lock
  21. drill — a practice
  22. cue — for pool
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cue — a signal

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