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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: snap · cabinet · tear · content · plane · spring · suit · cold

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. content — the amount
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. spring — the season
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. suit — to fit
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. suit — clothes
  9. cold — an illness
  10. suit — in cards
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. snap — to click
  13. spring — of water
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. tear — from crying
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. plane — a tool
  18. content — happy
  19. spring — a coil
  20. cold — not warm
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. tear — to rip
  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