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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: wind · degree · kick · tube · spring · mate · temple · rash

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. wind — moving air
  4. degree — temperature
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. spring — the season
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. rash — a series
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. wind — moving air
  13. kick — in football
  14. spring — a coil
  15. mate — a partner
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. rash — hasty
  18. mate — a friend
  19. mate — to breed
  20. degree — from a university
  21. spring — of water
  22. tube — the underground
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. tube — a container

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