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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: stick · clip · kid · cell · cue · wound · mine · fine

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. cue — for pool
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. cell — a phone
  5. wound — an injury
  6. fine — high quality
  7. mine — for digging
  8. cue — a hint
  9. fine — all right
  10. clip — to cut
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. kid — to tease
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. clip — a video
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. clip — for paper
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cue — a signal
  20. kid — child
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. mine — belonging to me

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