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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: cold · chair · ground · cue · race · net · content · rock

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. net — for catching
  3. ground — the earth
  4. cue — a signal
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. rock — a stone
  7. net — after costs
  8. ground — a position
  9. cue — for pool
  10. cue — a hint
  11. race — a contest
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. content — the amount
  14. net — in sport
  15. cold — not warm
  16. content — happy
  17. race — the arms race
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — a leader
  20. race — humankind
  21. rock — music
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. ground — crushed
  24. cold — an illness

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