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

Word bank: rest · pass · spring · swing · face · content · cell · wound

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. pass — a permit
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. swing — music
  5. content — happy
  6. face — to confront
  7. spring — the season
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. wound — an injury
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in biology
  13. wound — an injury
  14. swing — in golf
  15. face — part of the head
  16. spring — a coil
  17. content — the amount
  18. spring — of water
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. rest — a break
  21. rest — what's left
  22. swing — to play on
  23. face — to point toward
  24. rest — what's left

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