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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. squash — to crush
  4. cell — a phone
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. mug — a face
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. mug — to rob
  11. chest — a box
  12. cold — not warm
  13. court — of a king
  14. chest — of your body
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. court — of law
  17. squash — the sport
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cell — in biology
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. court — for sport
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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