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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 · bear · stem · staff · cold · fine · arm · cue

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. cold — not warm
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. chair — a leader
  6. staff — employees
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. fine — high quality
  10. cue — a signal
  11. bear — the animal
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bear — the animal
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. cue — for pool
  18. cue — a hint
  19. staff — a stick
  20. staff — employees
  21. cold — an illness
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. fine — all right
  24. stem — to come from

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