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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. spring — the season
  3. rush — hurry
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cap — of ice
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. tear — to rip
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. cap — a lid
  15. tear — from crying
  16. spring — of water
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. cap — a hat
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. date — the fruit
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. spring — a coil
  23. content — happy
  24. content — the amount

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