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

Word bank: cell · rest · cold · chair · stick · trunk

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. rest — what's left
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. rest — a break
  9. cold — an illness
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. rest — what's left
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cold — not warm
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — a leader
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. cell — in biology

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