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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bound · stand · row · degree · fork · object · spring · band

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. band — a ring
  4. spring — of water
  5. bound — certain
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. spring — the season
  8. degree — an amount
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bound — obliged
  11. row — to paddle
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. object — a thing
  14. band — a music group
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. spring — a coil
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. stand — to bear
  19. object — to protest
  20. object — an aim
  21. fork — in a road
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. row — a line
  24. degree — from a university

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