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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 116 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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — the season
  3. content — happy
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. club — for golf
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. content — the amount
  8. spring — a coil
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. file — a document
  11. bank — of a river
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. bark — to shout
  14. kid — to tease
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. kid — child
  17. club — for dancing
  18. file — a line of people
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. pass — a permit
  21. file — a tool
  22. club — a group
  23. bank — for money
  24. bank — for money

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