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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 116 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: spring · bore · stick · ground · prune · tube · band · degree

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. prune — to trim
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. degree — from a university
  7. ground — the earth
  8. band — a ring
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. bore — to tire
  11. bore — to drill
  12. spring — a coil
  13. prune — to trim
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. band — a music group
  16. tube — the underground
  17. ground — a position
  18. degree — an amount
  19. tube — a container
  20. ground — crushed
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — of water
  24. prune — the fruit

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