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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 can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. content — the amount
  3. spring — a coil
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. spring — the season
  7. mine — for digging
  8. content — happy
  9. tear — from crying
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wind — moving air
  12. chest — a box
  13. tear — to rip
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. chest — of your body
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. wind — moving air
  20. spring — of water
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. sharp — clever
  24. tear — from crying

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