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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: bulb · degree · shower · spring · branch · wake · court · nail

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. court — of law
  6. shower — rain
  7. spring — a coil
  8. court — of a king
  9. wake — a trail
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. spring — of water
  13. shower — to wash
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. branch — a division
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. degree — from a university
  19. spring — the season
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bulb — for light
  22. court — for sport
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bulb — for light

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