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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: kid · cold · date · firm · bound · scale · cue · stem

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. cue — for pool
  3. cue — a hint
  4. firm — steady
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. cue — a signal
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bound — tied together
  9. kid — to tease
  10. stem — to come from
  11. date — the fruit
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. cold — not warm
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. firm — a company
  16. bound — certain
  17. scale — in music
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. scale — size or range
  20. kid — child
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. cold — an illness
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. firm — decided

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