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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 120 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: degree · spring · mine · rush · file · chip · bore · snap

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  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. snap — to click
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. bore — to drill
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. mine — for digging
  7. file — a tool
  8. chip — to eat
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bore — to tire
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. rush — hurry
  14. chip — for betting
  15. spring — of water
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — the season
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a line of people
  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