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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: staff · calf · drill · hide · cold · mark · content · chair

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. staff — employees
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. staff — employees
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. content — happy
  8. drill — army training
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. drill — a practice
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. cold — an illness
  13. drill — the tool
  14. mark — a grade
  15. mark — a trace
  16. cold — not warm
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. staff — a stick
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. content — the amount

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