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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: lean · pass · pitcher · bulb · date · hand · land · spring

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. pass — a permit
  3. land — to come down
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. lean — thin
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. hand — in cards
  10. date — the fruit
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. bulb — for light
  18. land — ground
  19. spring — the season
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. spring — a coil
  22. land — a country
  23. spring — of water
  24. hand — help

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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