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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: game · club · prune · cold · cue · fine · content · march

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. march — the month
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — happy
  7. club — for dancing
  8. game — wild animals
  9. march — the month
  10. cue — a hint
  11. cue — for pool
  12. fine — all right
  13. march — music
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. prune — to trim
  16. club — for golf
  17. game — a match
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. club — a group
  22. fine — high quality
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. game — a kind of play

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