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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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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: clip · pit · cue · ground · last · rash · net · bear

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. last — final
  3. cue — for pool
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. clip — for paper
  6. ground — a position
  7. rash — hasty
  8. pit — a hole
  9. ground — the earth
  10. net — in sport
  11. ground — crushed
  12. net — for catching
  13. net — after costs
  14. cue — a hint
  15. pit — in a race
  16. last — finally
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bear — the animal
  20. rash — a series
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. bear — the animal
  23. clip — a video
  24. last — to go on

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