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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: band · toast · chair · straw · object · cold · rock · snap

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. object — an aim
  4. toast — bread
  5. band — a music group
  6. snap — to click
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a leader
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. band — a ring
  11. cold — an illness
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. cold — not warm
  15. object — a thing
  16. rock — a stone
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. object — to protest
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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