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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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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. drill — army training
  2. mug — a cup
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. chair — a leader
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. content — the amount
  7. content — happy
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. cell — in biology
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — a phone
  13. clip — to cut
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. drill — a practice
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. mug — to rob
  19. mug — a face
  20. clip — for paper
  21. drill — the tool
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. clip — a video
  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