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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: ruler · cold · face · club · present · straw · staff · content

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. staff — employees
  3. cold — not warm
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. present — there
  7. face — to confront
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to point toward
  10. present — a gift
  11. staff — a stick
  12. club — for golf
  13. staff — employees
  14. club — for dancing
  15. cold — an illness
  16. content — happy
  17. present — the time now
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. content — the amount
  22. club — a group
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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