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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: racket · cell · degree · spring · stand · object

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. object — to protest
  3. degree — an amount
  4. spring — of water
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. degree — from a university
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. object — a thing
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. cell — in biology
  12. stand — to bear
  13. object — an aim
  14. spring — the season
  15. degree — temperature
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. spring — a coil
  18. racket — for tennis

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