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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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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: rest · straw · wind · degree · cap · drill · cue · mouse

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. rest — what's left
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. degree — from a university
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. drill — army training
  8. degree — an amount
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cap — of ice
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cap — a hat
  14. rest — a break
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cue — a hint
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cue — for pool
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. rest — what's left
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. mouse — for a computer

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