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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: present · march · wake · chair · mate · cue · cell · game

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. game — a match
  3. cue — for pool
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cue — a signal
  6. chair — a leader
  7. present — a gift
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. mate — a partner
  13. cue — a hint
  14. march — the month
  15. mate — to breed
  16. game — wild animals
  17. present — there
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cell — in biology
  22. wake — a trail
  23. present — the time now
  24. chair — a professorship

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