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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · fine · trunk · degree · spell · cold · squash · cabinet

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. fine — high quality
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. spring — the season
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spell — magic
  8. squash — the sport
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. cold — an illness
  12. spring — a coil
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — temperature
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. spell — letters
  18. squash — to crush
  19. spring — of water
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. cold — not warm
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. degree — an amount
  24. trunk — of a tree

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