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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. band — a ring
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. degree — an amount
  9. spring — of water
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. lie — to recline
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. foot — a measure
  16. wound — an injury
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. spring — a coil
  20. band — a music group
  21. degree — temperature
  22. wound — an injury
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. bowl — a football final

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