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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 120 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 · swing · cabinet · content · board · deal · cold · mate

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — a leader
  4. board — to get on
  5. mate — a friend
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. content — happy
  8. mate — to breed
  9. swing — music
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. swing — in golf
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. content — the amount
  15. deal — to handle
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. cold — an illness
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. mate — a partner
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. swing — to play on
  23. board — a committee
  24. cold — the Cold War

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