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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: stock · degree · capital · spring · bound · hide · rest · date

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. degree — temperature
  3. capital — money
  4. degree — from a university
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — a break
  8. spring — a coil
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. spring — of water
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. stock — shares
  14. degree — an amount
  15. bound — obliged
  16. rest — what's left
  17. bound — certain
  18. stock — goods
  19. capital — a city
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. bound — tied together
  22. date — the fruit
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. capital — a big letter

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