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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
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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: pass · cold · cue · pop · ground · straw · capital · roll

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. pop — music
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. cue — for pool
  5. ground — the earth
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. cold — an illness
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. cold — not warm
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. capital — money
  12. pop — to visit
  13. roll — a cake
  14. ground — crushed
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cue — a hint
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. pass — a permit
  19. ground — a position
  20. capital — a city
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. roll — a list
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. pop — soda

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