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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: cell · straw · nail · cold · bay · object · chest · bank

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. cold — an illness
  4. object — to protest
  5. object — a thing
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cell — in biology
  11. bank — for money
  12. bank — for money
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. chest — a box
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cell — a phone
  22. object — an aim
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. bank — of a river

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