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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. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. spring — of water
  4. cap — a hat
  5. mate — to breed
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. mate — a friend
  8. pass — a permit
  9. bore — to tire
  10. kid — to tease
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. mate — a partner
  13. bore — to drill
  14. cap — of ice
  15. content — happy
  16. spring — the season
  17. toast — bread
  18. content — the amount
  19. spring — a coil
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. cap — a lid
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. kid — child
  24. toast — the most admired

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