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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: spring · cold · roll · mate · snap · firm · content · pass

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — of water
  4. mate — a friend
  5. content — the amount
  6. firm — a company
  7. content — happy
  8. snap — to click
  9. mate — to breed
  10. pass — a permit
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. roll — a list
  13. firm — decided
  14. spring — a coil
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. firm — steady
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. mate — a partner
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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