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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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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: fall · rash · deal · cap · cold · cue · bat · lie

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. rash — hasty
  5. fall — to drop
  6. cap — of ice
  7. fall — the season
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. cap — a lid
  10. cap — a hat
  11. cold — an illness
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. fall — to drop
  14. deal — to handle
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. rash — a series
  17. cue — a hint
  18. bat — the animal
  19. cold — not warm
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. lie — to recline
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cue — for pool

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