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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: cabinet · wind · chest · wound · wave · bat · cue · season

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cue — a hint
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wound — an injury
  7. season — of the year
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. chest — a box
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wound — an injury
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. season — in sport
  18. bat — the animal
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. cue — for pool
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. wave — of the sea

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