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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: bore · pass · game · degree · spring · lie · wound · row

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. spring — of water
  3. pass — a permit
  4. wound — an injury
  5. lie — to recline
  6. wound — an injury
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — a coil
  9. degree — from a university
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. game — wild animals
  12. degree — an amount
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. row — a line
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. row — to paddle
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bore — to drill
  23. game — a match
  24. bore — to tire

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