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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: key · fork · game · spell · wound · cold · cue · straw

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. spell — letters
  4. key — for a lock
  5. game — a match
  6. cue — for pool
  7. spell — a short time
  8. key — in music
  9. spell — magic
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. key — the most important part
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. fork — in a road
  19. game — wild animals
  20. wound — an injury
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cue — a signal
  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