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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.

Make a worksheet

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: wake · arm · content · land · cold · spring · bound · lash

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. spring — the season
  4. content — the amount
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. bound — certain
  7. cold — an illness
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. spring — of water
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. bound — tied together
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. wake — a trail
  17. land — to come down
  18. bound — obliged
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. spring — a coil
  21. land — a country
  22. cold — not warm
  23. content — happy
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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