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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — a coil
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. row — a line
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. degree — an amount
  12. rush — hurry
  13. stem — to come from
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. wind — moving air
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. row — to paddle
  18. degree — from a university
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. spring — the season
  23. wind — moving air
  24. degree — temperature

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