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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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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: roll · mine · mark · saw · prune · degree · spring · board

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  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. board — to get on
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. spring — the season
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. degree — temperature
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. roll — a list
  10. roll — a cake
  11. degree — an amount
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. mark — a trace
  14. spring — a coil
  15. degree — from a university
  16. saw — the tool
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. mark — a grade
  21. board — a committee
  22. spring — of water
  23. saw — the tool
  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