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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: lie · pitcher · game · cue · band · cold · swing · file

  1. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. swing — to play on
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. swing — music
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. band — a ring
  7. file — a line of people
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. lie — to recline
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. cue — for pool
  14. game — a match
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. band — a music group
  17. game — wild animals
  18. cue — a hint
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. swing — in golf
  21. file — a tool
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. cue — a signal
  24. file — a document

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