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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: mine · fork · field · cold · cell · cue · rock · snap

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  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. mine — an explosive
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. fork — in a road
  5. snap — to click
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. cue — for pool
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. rock — a stone
  10. rock — music
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cell — in biology
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. cue — a hint
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — a subject
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cue — a signal
  20. mine — for digging
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. cell — in a prison
  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