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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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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: arm · cold · staff · tube · face · mine · wave · content

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. face — part of the head
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. tube — a container
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. tube — the underground
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. face — to point toward
  11. face — to confront
  12. content — the amount
  13. staff — a stick
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. staff — employees
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. content — happy
  19. mine — for digging
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. tube — in a tire

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