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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: object · degree · pop · temple · bulb · tear · spring · wound

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. pop — soda
  3. object — an aim
  4. wound — an injury
  5. object — a thing
  6. tear — to rip
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. degree — temperature
  9. pop — music
  10. spring — a coil
  11. object — to protest
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bulb — for light
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. tear — from crying
  21. spring — of water
  22. degree — an amount
  23. spring — the season
  24. bulb — for light

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