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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: spring · staff · field · wave · degree · dip · bear · root

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. staff — employees
  3. degree — temperature
  4. dip — to sink
  5. root — of a word
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. bear — the animal
  8. spring — the season
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. degree — from a university
  11. root — the cause
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. bear — the animal
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. spring — of water
  16. spring — a coil
  17. root — of a plant
  18. staff — employees
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — farmland
  21. field — for sport
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. staff — a stick
  24. bear — to put up with

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