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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: foot · racket · cue · fork · clip · cold · spring · sharp

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. clip — a video
  3. spring — a coil
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. foot — a measure
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. clip — to cut
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. spring — the season
  11. cue — a hint
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. sharp — clever
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. cue — for pool
  16. spring — of water
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. clip — for paper
  19. cue — a signal
  20. cold — an illness
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fork — in a road
  24. sharp — exactly

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