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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: straw · cell · mug · cap · kick · content · mine · hand

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. hand — help
  3. cell — a phone
  4. content — happy
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. mug — a face
  7. mug — a cup
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. cap — of ice
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. mug — to rob
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. cap — a hat
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. kick — in football
  17. cap — a lid
  18. hand — in cards
  19. cell — in biology
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. content — the amount
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — for digging

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