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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: land · plane · degree · saw · court · trunk · spring · fork

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. degree — an amount
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. spring — the season
  5. degree — from a university
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. land — to come down
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. plane — a tool
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. saw — the tool
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. court — for sport
  15. land — a country
  16. court — of law
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. land — ground
  19. court — of a king
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — of water
  22. fork — in a road
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. degree — temperature

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