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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.

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: staff · bulb · content · arm · file · wave · bat · spell

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. staff — employees
  3. spell — letters
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bulb — for light
  9. file — a document
  10. staff — employees
  11. spell — magic
  12. spell — a short time
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. file — a line of people
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. staff — a stick
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. file — a tool
  22. content — the amount
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. arm — a part of something

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