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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 116 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. row — to paddle
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. cell — in biology
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tube — a container
  15. content — happy
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. content — the amount
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. chair — a leader
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. row — a line

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