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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: trunk · content · ball · cap · dip · cold · band · straw

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cap — of ice
  4. cap — a hat
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. cold — an illness
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. ball — a dance
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. content — the amount
  15. cap — a lid
  16. ball — a great time
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. band — a music group
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. band — a ring
  22. content — happy
  23. dip — to sink
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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