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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: mate · track · cue · sharp · tear · cold · hand · kick

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. tear — from crying
  5. track — a song
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. mate — a friend
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — in cards
  11. tear — from crying
  12. mate — to breed
  13. sharp — clever
  14. track — a path
  15. cold — not warm
  16. tear — to rip
  17. cold — an illness
  18. track — to keep track
  19. cue — a hint
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. kick — in football
  22. mate — a partner
  23. cue — for pool
  24. cold — the Cold War

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