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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: hand · pound · content · swing · wind · tear · stand · spring

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. tear — from crying
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. content — happy
  7. swing — to play on
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. stand — to bear
  10. content — the amount
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. spring — of water
  13. tear — from crying
  14. swing — music
  15. pound — a weight
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. hand — help
  21. spring — a coil
  22. swing — in golf
  23. tear — to rip
  24. hand — in cards

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