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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: march · pitcher · cue · wake · cell · sharp · rule · clip

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. march — the month
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. clip — to cut
  6. cue — a signal
  7. cue — a hint
  8. cue — for pool
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. sharp — clever
  12. rule — government
  13. cell — in biology
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. clip — for paper
  18. march — the month
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. march — music
  22. clip — a video
  23. wake — a trail
  24. cell — a phone

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