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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: band · lash · cue · drill · degree · net · sharp · spring

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  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. sharp — clever
  2. degree — temperature
  3. spring — the season
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. degree — an amount
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. cue — a signal
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. net — in sport
  11. net — after costs
  12. drill — a practice
  13. band — a music group
  14. cue — a hint
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. drill — army training
  17. spring — a coil
  18. net — for catching
  19. cue — for pool
  20. spring — of water
  21. band — a ring
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. drill — the tool
  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