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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: straw · stock · cold · cell · roll · snap · mouse · field

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. roll — a list
  4. cell — in biology
  5. stock — shares
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. field — a subject
  8. cell — a phone
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. stock — goods
  15. roll — a cake
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. snap — to click
  24. mouse — the animal

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