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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: content · mine · cold · shower · staff · patient · tube · calf

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. content — the amount
  3. staff — employees
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. shower — to wash
  6. cold — an illness
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. content — happy
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. cold — not warm
  13. shower — rain
  14. tube — a container
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. tube — the underground
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. mine — for digging
  22. staff — a stick
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. calf — a young animal

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