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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: date · spring · season · rest · file · mark · kid · content

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. file — a line of people
  3. content — happy
  4. content — the amount
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. rest — a break
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — child
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. date — the fruit
  11. rest — what's left
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. mark — a trace
  15. mark — a grade
  16. spring — of water
  17. season — of the year
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a tool
  20. rest — what's left
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. spring — the season
  24. season — in sport

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