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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cabinet · ground · chest · straw · court · cold · mug · leaves

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. mug — to rob
  3. mug — a face
  4. cold — not warm
  5. chest — a box
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. mug — a cup
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. ground — a position
  11. court — of a king
  12. chest — of your body
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. chest — of your body
  15. court — for sport
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. ground — crushed
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. cold — an illness
  21. ground — the earth
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. cabinet — ministers

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