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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 116 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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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. branch — a division
  4. spring — the season
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. spring — a coil
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. mine — for digging
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. shower — rain
  14. land — ground
  15. degree — an amount
  16. land — a country
  17. degree — temperature
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. land — to come down
  20. shower — to wash
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. calf — a young animal

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