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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: wound · kid · cue · press · foot · date · band · bat

  1. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. cue — a hint
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. kid — child
  5. cue — a signal
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a ring
  11. press — a publisher
  12. foot — a measure
  13. date — the fruit
  14. press — to push
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. press — newspapers
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bat — the animal
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. kid — to tease
  23. band — a music group
  24. date — on the calendar

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