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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: wind · court · cold · safe · straw · cell

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. wind — moving air
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cell — in biology
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. court — for sport
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — not warm
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. court — of a king
  16. court — of law
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. straw — dry grass

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