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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 120 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: mine · foot · cell · shower · wound · clip · spring · cue

  1. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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. spring — of water
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. cell — in biology
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. shower — to wash
  10. wound — an injury
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. foot — a measure
  13. spring — the season
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cue — a signal
  16. spring — a coil
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — for digging
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. shower — rain
  23. clip — for paper
  24. wound — an injury

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