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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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Word bank
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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. present — there
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. row — to paddle
  6. cold — an illness
  7. row — a line
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. clip — to cut
  11. present — the time now
  12. present — a gift
  13. cold — not warm
  14. clip — a video
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. dip — to sink
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. cell — a phone
  23. clip — for paper
  24. cold — the Cold War

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