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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 116 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: staff · wax · bulb · content · track · lie · clip · cold

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. staff — employees
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. track — a song
  5. cold — an illness
  6. content — happy
  7. wax — to grow
  8. track — a path
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bulb — for light
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. staff — a stick
  14. track — to keep track
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. clip — a video
  17. content — the amount
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — for paper
  20. cold — not warm
  21. lie — to recline
  22. bulb — for light
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. staff — employees

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