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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. degree — from a university
  3. file — a line of people
  4. mug — to rob
  5. degree — an amount
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. degree — temperature
  8. ground — crushed
  9. spring — of water
  10. cell — a phone
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. ground — a position
  13. cell — in biology
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. file — a tool
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. ground — the earth
  18. mug — a cup
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. mug — a face
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. spring — a coil
  24. file — a document

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