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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. content — happy
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. staff — employees
  5. cue — a hint
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. staff — a stick
  8. craft — boats
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. cue — for pool
  14. cue — a signal
  15. degree — an amount
  16. board — a committee
  17. content — the amount
  18. board — to get on
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — temperature
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. craft — a skill
  24. content — videos and posts

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