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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: row · straw · cap · cell · kick · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. last — to go on
  4. row — a line
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cell — in biology
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. cell — a phone
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cap — a hat
  13. kick — in football
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. row — to paddle
  16. last — finally
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. cap — a lid

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