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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: roll · cell · hand · mark · rest · kid · clip · cue

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. mark — a grade
  3. cue — for pool
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. rest — what's left
  6. clip — to cut
  7. cue — a signal
  8. rest — a break
  9. hand — in cards
  10. rest — what's left
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. kid — to tease
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. roll — a list
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cell — in biology
  17. kid — child
  18. cue — a hint
  19. hand — help
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. mark — a trace
  23. roll — a cake
  24. clip — a video

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