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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: mine · last · spring · perch · rest · degree · swing · rush

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. rest — what's left
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. last — final
  5. mine — for digging
  6. degree — temperature
  7. last — finally
  8. spring — the season
  9. degree — from a university
  10. last — to go on
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. swing — music
  15. rush — hurry
  16. swing — in golf
  17. rest — a break
  18. swing — to play on
  19. spring — of water
  20. rest — what's left
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — the fish
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. degree — an amount

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