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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bound · chest · tear · land · suit · season · spring · pass

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. suit — in cards
  4. bound — tied together
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. season — in sport
  7. land — to come down
  8. season — of the year
  9. suit — to fit
  10. spring — the season
  11. chest — a box
  12. bound — obliged
  13. pass — a permit
  14. chest — of your body
  15. suit — clothes
  16. land — a country
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bound — certain
  19. land — ground
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. chest — of your body
  23. spring — of water
  24. pass — to spend time

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