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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 120 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: lie · court · cold · content · staff · drill · chip · season

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. chip — to eat
  3. drill — army training
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. season — in sport
  6. content — the amount
  7. court — for sport
  8. cold — not warm
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. staff — employees
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — happy
  13. drill — the tool
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. lie — to recline
  18. drill — a practice
  19. season — of the year
  20. staff — a stick
  21. court — of a king
  22. court — of law
  23. chip — for betting
  24. lie — an untruth

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