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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: chair · stock · cold · cabinet · mate · content · pop · clip

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. mate — a friend
  3. content — happy
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. cold — not warm
  6. clip — for paper
  7. content — the amount
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. stock — goods
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. mate — a partner
  12. pop — soda
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. clip — to cut
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. pop — to visit
  19. stock — shares
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. clip — a video
  22. chair — a leader
  23. pop — music
  24. mate — to breed

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