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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. degree — from a university
  5. current — of water
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — a coil
  8. perch — the fish
  9. degree — an amount
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. track — a song
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. current — electric
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. wake — a trail
  18. track — a path
  19. degree — temperature
  20. track — to keep track
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. cold — not warm
  24. current — happening now

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