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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · net · rock · straw · cold · fork · degree · track

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. fork — in a road
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — from a university
  6. net — for catching
  7. track — a song
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. cold — not warm
  10. track — to keep track
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. spring — a coil
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. track — a path
  15. cold — an illness
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. net — in sport
  19. rock — music
  20. net — after costs
  21. degree — an amount
  22. rock — a stone
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. spring — of water

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