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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: pit · chair · race · cold · content · straw · mug · coach

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. chair — a leader
  4. cold — not warm
  5. race — the arms race
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. content — happy
  8. race — humankind
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. pit — in a race
  12. mug — a face
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mug — a cup
  16. pit — a hole
  17. content — the amount
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. race — a contest
  20. mug — to rob
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. coach — a trainer

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