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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. drill — a practice
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — of water
  5. drill — the tool
  6. drill — army training
  7. net — after costs
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — temperature
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. net — for catching
  12. current — of water
  13. net — in sport
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. sharp — clever
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. spring — the season
  21. current — electric
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. current — happening now
  24. leaves — to go away

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