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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: kick · squash · prune · last · land · spring · cabinet · degree

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. squash — the sport
  3. land — to come down
  4. degree — from a university
  5. last — to go on
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. spring — the season
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. land — a country
  11. squash — to crush
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. land — ground
  15. spring — a coil
  16. degree — temperature
  17. kick — in football
  18. last — finally
  19. prune — to trim
  20. last — final
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. prune — to trim
  24. degree — an amount

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