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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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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 · game · degree · row · track · cue · dip · ground

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  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. row — a quarrel
  2. track — a path
  3. ground — a position
  4. game — a match
  5. track — a song
  6. row — to paddle
  7. ground — the earth
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. spring — of water
  10. degree — an amount
  11. row — a line
  12. cue — for pool
  13. cue — a hint
  14. game — wild animals
  15. track — to keep track
  16. spring — the season
  17. ground — crushed
  18. spring — a coil
  19. cue — a signal
  20. degree — from a university
  21. dip — to sink
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. game — a kind of play
  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