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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · bear · cell · cue · hide · row

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. bear — the animal
  6. cue — for pool
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. row — to paddle
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cue — a hint
  13. cue — a signal
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. row — a line
  16. cell — a phone
  17. bear — the animal
  18. chest — a box

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