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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bore — to tire
  3. degree — temperature
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. stem — to come from
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — a coil
  8. kick — in football
  9. file — a tool
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. plane — a tool
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a document
  21. bore — to drill
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. spring — the season
  24. nail — for a hammer

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