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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: wind · hand · cue · suit · bat · firm · row · field

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. firm — steady
  3. cue — for pool
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. suit — in cards
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. cue — a signal
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. hand — in cards
  11. field — for sport
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. suit — clothes
  14. bat — the animal
  15. firm — decided
  16. firm — a company
  17. suit — to fit
  18. wind — moving air
  19. row — a line
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — help
  22. cue — a hint
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a quarrel

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