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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. press — a publisher
  4. content — the amount
  5. cell — a phone
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. cold — not warm
  10. race — the arms race
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. race — a contest
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. press — newspapers
  16. content — happy
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. press — to push
  19. race — humankind
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. stem — to come from
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cold — an illness

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