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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 116 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: spell · fall · staff · cell · track · hand · content · cold

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. cold — an illness
  3. spell — letters
  4. staff — employees
  5. cold — not warm
  6. content — happy
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. fall — to drop
  9. track — a path
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. track — a song
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — help
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — in biology
  16. spell — a short time
  17. track — to keep track
  18. spell — magic
  19. content — the amount
  20. staff — a stick
  21. fall — the season
  22. hand — in cards
  23. fall — to drop
  24. staff — employees

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