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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: staff · bark · spell · spring · degree · track · wind · date

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. degree — temperature
  3. track — a song
  4. spring — a coil
  5. staff — employees
  6. degree — from a university
  7. spell — magic
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. date — the fruit
  10. degree — an amount
  11. spell — letters
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. wind — moving air
  15. spring — of water
  16. staff — employees
  17. spring — the season
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. staff — a stick
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — to shout
  22. spell — a short time
  23. track — to keep track
  24. track — a path

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