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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — in biology
  3. net — after costs
  4. clip — a video
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. cue — for pool
  9. charge — in control
  10. deal — to handle
  11. cold — not warm
  12. charge — a price
  13. cue — a hint
  14. cue — a signal
  15. net — in sport
  16. net — for catching
  17. clip — for paper
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. clip — to cut
  20. cold — an illness
  21. charge — electricity
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. cell — a phone
  24. deal — a big deal

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