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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
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: chest · staff · land · leaves · wake · content · cold · fan

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. chest — of your body
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. staff — employees
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. land — to come down
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. content — the amount
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. staff — employees
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wake — a trail
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. land — a country
  20. staff — a stick
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. land — ground
  24. content — happy

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