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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: cold · cue · face · sharp · stem · snap · swing · staff

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. cue — for pool
  3. cue — a signal
  4. sharp — clever
  5. cold — an illness
  6. swing — music
  7. face — to confront
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. cold — not warm
  10. swing — to play on
  11. cue — a hint
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. stem — to come from
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. staff — employees
  16. face — to point toward
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. snap — to click
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. staff — a stick
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. face — part of the head
  24. swing — in golf

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