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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.

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: wound · plane · degree · mug · racket · shower · bound · spring

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. mug — a face
  3. bound — certain
  4. degree — an amount
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bound — obliged
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. spring — a coil
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. shower — rain
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. spring — of water
  14. wound — an injury
  15. shower — to wash
  16. plane — a tool
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. bound — tied together
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. mug — to rob
  23. mug — a cup
  24. plane — an aircraft

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