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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: ball · spring · root · temple · pop · land · last · degree

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. spring — of water
  3. land — ground
  4. root — the cause
  5. pop — music
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. ball — a dance
  8. pop — soda
  9. degree — an amount
  10. root — of a word
  11. last — to go on
  12. root — of a plant
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. pop — to visit
  15. spring — a coil
  16. land — to come down
  17. degree — from a university
  18. spring — the season
  19. ball — a great time
  20. last — final
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. last — finally
  23. land — a country
  24. degree — temperature

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