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

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. degree — an amount
  3. spring — a coil
  4. rest — what's left
  5. spring — of water
  6. drill — army training
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. pound — a weight
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. drill — a practice
  12. degree — from a university
  13. current — of water
  14. drill — the tool
  15. degree — temperature
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. rest — what's left
  19. spring — the season
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. current — happening now
  23. current — electric
  24. coach — a trainer

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