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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: cold · wake · cue · spring · cabinet · roll · last · chest

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cold — an illness
  4. last — final
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. chest — a box
  7. wake — a trail
  8. last — finally
  9. last — to go on
  10. roll — a cake
  11. spring — a coil
  12. cue — a signal
  13. cue — for pool
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. cue — a hint
  16. spring — the season
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. roll — a list
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cold — not warm

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