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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 116 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 · band · mug · content · trunk · straw · chip · mine

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. mug — a cup
  3. mug — a face
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. mug — to rob
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chip — to eat
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. chip — for betting
  14. content — the amount
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — for digging
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. cold — an illness
  20. band — a ring
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — happy
  24. straw — dry grass

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