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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 120 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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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: snap · degree · ruler · land · fall · mine · cue · spring

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  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. cue — a signal
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. land — ground
  4. spring — the season
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. degree — temperature
  8. land — a country
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. degree — an amount
  13. land — to come down
  14. spring — a coil
  15. mine — for digging
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — to drop
  18. cue — for pool
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. snap — to click
  21. fall — the season
  22. spring — of water
  23. cue — a hint
  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