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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: degree · squash · spring · mine · plane · net · cue · bat

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. degree — an amount
  4. spring — a coil
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. net — after costs
  7. squash — to crush
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. cue — a hint
  10. cue — a signal
  11. degree — from a university
  12. spring — of water
  13. bat — the animal
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. net — in sport
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. net — for catching
  19. spring — the season
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. mine — for digging
  22. degree — temperature
  23. cue — for pool
  24. plane — a tool

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