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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. stock — goods
  5. spring — a coil
  6. cap — of ice
  7. prune — to trim
  8. band — a ring
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. degree — temperature
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. spring — of water
  13. cap — a hat
  14. degree — from a university
  15. stock — shares
  16. file — a line of people
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. degree — an amount
  20. band — a music group
  21. file — a document
  22. cap — a lid
  23. file — a tool
  24. lash — to lash out

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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