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

Word bank: staff · fall · chest · straw · cell · toast

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. fall — to drop
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — the season
  10. staff — a stick
  11. chest — a box
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. chest — of your body
  14. staff — employees
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in biology
  18. staff — employees

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