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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: cell · straw · nail · cold · bay · object

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. object — to protest
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. cell — in biology
  5. object — a thing
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cell — a phone
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. object — an aim

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