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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: staff · bulb · arm · wound · stock · content · cold · pit

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — a stick
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. bulb — for light
  7. content — the amount
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. stock — shares
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. stock — goods
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. pit — in a race
  17. cold — not warm
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. staff — employees
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. pit — a hole
  22. content — happy
  23. bulb — for light
  24. cold — the Cold War

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