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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: wake · spring · bound · face · cap · degree · prune · content

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. bound — tied together
  3. degree — temperature
  4. cap — a lid
  5. cap — of ice
  6. spring — the season
  7. face — part of the head
  8. face — to confront
  9. bound — obliged
  10. face — to point toward
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. content — happy
  13. bound — certain
  14. degree — from a university
  15. spring — of water
  16. wake — a trail
  17. spring — a coil
  18. degree — an amount
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. prune — to trim
  21. content — the amount
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. prune — to trim

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