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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 · fine · tear · bowl · content · prune · rest · cue

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. spring — a coil
  3. fine — high quality
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — to rip
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. fine — all right
  9. tear — from crying
  10. content — the amount
  11. rest — what's left
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. cue — a signal
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. spring — the season
  16. prune — to trim
  17. rest — what's left
  18. spring — of water
  19. rest — a break
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cue — for pool
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. cue — a hint
  24. fine — a penalty

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