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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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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: cabinet · chair · cold · straw · march · drill · chest · mark

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. drill — army training
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. chest — of your body
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. march — the month
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mark — a grade
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — the tool
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. cold — not warm
  16. chair — a leader
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. chest — of your body
  20. march — music
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. march — the month
  24. mark — a trace

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