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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: vault · bound · rash · spring · degree · bulb · mine · pound

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  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. spring — a coil
  2. bulb — for light
  3. spring — of water
  4. mine — for digging
  5. rash — a series
  6. bound — tied together
  7. spring — the season
  8. degree — from a university
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. bound — obliged
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. rash — hasty
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. pound — a weight
  17. bulb — for light
  18. bound — certain
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. vault — a safe
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. degree — an amount
  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