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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 120 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: pop · cell · wax · bank · content · spring · degree · track

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. spring — a coil
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pop — soda
  5. spring — the season
  6. degree — an amount
  7. bank — of a river
  8. track — a song
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — the amount
  11. track — to keep track
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. bank — for money
  14. bank — for money
  15. degree — temperature
  16. track — a path
  17. content — happy
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. cell — in biology
  20. degree — from a university
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. spring — of water
  24. pop — to visit

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