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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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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 · craft · cap · cell · mate · content · straw · lie

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. content — happy
  4. content — the amount
  5. craft — a skill
  6. cap — a hat
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. mate — to breed
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. chair — a leader
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. cell — a phone
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. craft — boats
  15. mate — a partner
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. cap — a lid
  21. mate — a friend
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. cell — in biology
  24. lie — to recline

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