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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: bark · cap · tube · cue · game · tear · lie · court

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. tear — to rip
  3. cap — a hat
  4. game — wild animals
  5. cue — a hint
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. tube — the underground
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. cue — for pool
  10. bark — to shout
  11. tube — a container
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. court — of a king
  14. cap — of ice
  15. tear — from crying
  16. lie — to recline
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. tear — from crying
  20. game — a match
  21. court — of law
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. court — for sport
  24. cap — a lid

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