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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: rock · tear · rule · kid · cue · dip · content · nail

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. cue — a signal
  3. rock — a stone
  4. tear — from crying
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. rule — government
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. tear — from crying
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. content — happy
  12. kid — to tease
  13. content — the amount
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. cue — for pool
  16. cue — a hint
  17. kid — child
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. tear — to rip
  21. rule — a law
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. dip — to sink

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