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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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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: cold · season · chair · wake · calf · chest · cabinet · fine

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. fine — high quality
  4. chest — of your body
  5. season — in sport
  6. fine — all right
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wake — a trail
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. season — of the year
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — a leader
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. chest — a box
  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