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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. spring — the season
  3. fork — in a road
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. degree — an amount
  6. rest — a break
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. rest — what's left
  9. spring — of water
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. degree — from a university
  12. wax — to grow
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — in biology
  16. spring — a coil
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. cell — a phone

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