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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: cold · row · wind · staff · lash · cell · bay · straw

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. row — a line
  5. staff — employees
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cell — a phone
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. staff — a stick
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. row — to paddle

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