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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: straw · calf · bound · shower · cue · cell · field · content

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. 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. bound — certain
  2. cell — a phone
  3. bound — tied together
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. shower — rain
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. field — a subject
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. content — the amount
  11. cue — a hint
  12. bound — obliged
  13. content — happy
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. cue — for pool
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. cue — a signal
  18. field — farmland
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. field — for sport
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. 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