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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 120 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. spring — a coil
  6. pass — a permit
  7. rush — hurry
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. capital — money
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. sharp — clever
  13. spring — of water
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. row — a line
  17. spring — the season
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. capital — a city
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. stem — to come from
  24. row — to paddle

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