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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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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: cell · club · hide · fall · drill · cold · object · straw

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. object — a thing
  3. cold — an illness
  4. object — to protest
  5. drill — the tool
  6. club — for dancing
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cell — a phone
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. club — for golf
  12. drill — a practice
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. fall — the season
  15. object — an aim
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. drill — army training
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. fall — to drop
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. cell — in biology
  24. club — a group

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