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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. cell — in biology
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cold — an illness
  5. spring — the season
  6. cell — a phone
  7. pass — a permit
  8. bank — of a river
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. content — the amount
  12. bank — for money
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bank — for money
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — to handle
  18. cold — not warm
  19. rush — hurry
  20. spring — a coil
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. spring — of water
  23. content — happy
  24. rush — a thrill

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