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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: cold · tear · cue · kick · spring · wake · scale · stand

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. cue — a signal
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. scale — in music
  7. tear — from crying
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. spring — of water
  10. tear — to rip
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — an illness
  14. stand — to bear
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — size or range
  17. cue — for pool
  18. cue — a hint
  19. tear — from crying
  20. kick — in football
  21. wake — a trail
  22. spring — a coil
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. wake — before a funeral

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