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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. capital — money
  4. mug — a face
  5. mug — a cup
  6. tear — to rip
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. content — happy
  13. pass — a permit
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. cold — not warm
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. mug — to rob
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. content — the amount
  20. date — the fruit
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — from crying
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. temple — side of the head

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