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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: cue · charge · cold · bound · straw · court · cell · patient

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. cue — a hint
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bound — tied together
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. charge — a price
  8. cue — a signal
  9. cue — for pool
  10. court — of a king
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. charge — in control
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of law
  18. cell — in biology
  19. bound — obliged
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. bound — certain
  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