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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: straw · ball · mate · trunk · last · cue · content · cell

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. last — final
  4. ball — a dance
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. cue — a hint
  7. mate — to breed
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. mate — a friend
  10. cue — for pool
  11. ball — a great time
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in biology
  16. last — to go on
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. cue — a signal
  19. content — happy
  20. mate — a partner
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. content — the amount
  24. trunk — of a car

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