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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. land — to come down
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bore — to drill
  7. date — the fruit
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. degree — temperature
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. land — ground
  12. last — final
  13. spring — the season
  14. bore — to tire
  15. land — a country
  16. lean — to bend
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. last — to go on
  22. spring — a coil
  23. lean — thin
  24. last — finally

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