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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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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. track — a song
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. root — of a word
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — not warm
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. root — the cause
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. cell — a phone
  13. band — a ring
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. track — to keep track
  16. band — a music group
  17. track — a path
  18. lie — to recline
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. cell — in biology
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. root — of a plant
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. cell — in a prison

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