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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.

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: degree · rule · tear · key · spring · roll · wound · face

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. roll — a cake
  3. spring — the season
  4. key — for a lock
  5. key — the most important part
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. roll — a list
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wound — an injury
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. degree — temperature
  12. spring — of water
  13. tear — from crying
  14. spring — a coil
  15. degree — from a university
  16. face — to confront
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. degree — an amount
  19. rule — a law
  20. tear — to rip
  21. face — to point toward
  22. wound — an injury
  23. face — part of the head
  24. key — in music

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