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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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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: content · wind · pitch · spring · tear · jam · club · mine

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. club — a group
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. tear — to rip
  6. club — for dancing
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. mine — for digging
  11. spring — the season
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — happy
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. pitch — completely
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. spring — a coil
  22. club — for golf
  23. spring — of water
  24. wind — moving air

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