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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: spring · bound · mine · net · kid · rule · degree · trunk

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. rule — government
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — child
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. degree — temperature
  9. spring — of water
  10. degree — from a university
  11. net — for catching
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bound — obliged
  14. net — in sport
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. degree — an amount
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. spring — a coil
  19. net — after costs
  20. rule — a law
  21. spring — the season
  22. bound — certain
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. mine — for digging

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