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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: cue · land · tear · court · lash · hide · fall · pit

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. pit — a hole
  5. land — ground
  6. court — for sport
  7. tear — to rip
  8. court — of law
  9. fall — to drop
  10. land — a country
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. tear — from crying
  13. fall — the season
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cue — for pool
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. pit — in a race
  21. land — to come down
  22. court — of a king
  23. fall — to drop
  24. cue — a hint

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