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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 · rest · bowl · land · chest · rock · game · spring

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. land — ground
  3. spring — the season
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. spring — a coil
  8. rock — a stone
  9. degree — temperature
  10. rest — what's left
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. land — a country
  13. rock — music
  14. rest — what's left
  15. degree — an amount
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. chest — of your body
  18. degree — from a university
  19. game — wild animals
  20. rest — a break
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. land — to come down
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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