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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: cold · staff · rash · chest · stand · content · drill · court

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. court — for sport
  4. content — the amount
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. drill — army training
  7. staff — employees
  8. staff — a stick
  9. rash — a series
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. stand — to bear
  12. rash — hasty
  13. content — happy
  14. chest — a box
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. court — of law
  17. staff — employees
  18. drill — a practice
  19. cold — not warm
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. court — of a king
  22. drill — the tool
  23. cold — an illness
  24. chest — of your body

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