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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: bear · season · cold · cue · club · content · chest · march

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. march — the month
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cue — for pool
  6. cold — an illness
  7. season — of the year
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bear — the animal
  12. march — music
  13. club — a group
  14. content — the amount
  15. cold — not warm
  16. season — in sport
  17. chest — a box
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. cue — a hint
  20. club — for golf
  21. march — the month
  22. bear — the animal
  23. content — happy
  24. club — for dancing

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