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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
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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: pop · content · file · cold · arm · wave · trunk · sharp

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. content — the amount
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. file — a document
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. pop — to visit
  16. sharp — clever
  17. file — a tool
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. pop — music
  21. pop — soda
  22. file — a line of people
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. cold — not warm

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