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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 · content · present · wind · lie · spring · mug · chair

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. content — happy
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. spring — of water
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. chair — a leader
  7. mug — to rob
  8. spring — the season
  9. cue — a signal
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. mug — a face
  13. cue — a hint
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. present — the time now
  16. lie — to recline
  17. present — a gift
  18. spring — a coil
  19. cue — for pool
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — the amount
  22. present — there
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. mug — a cup

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