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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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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: degree · deal · spring · trunk · fork · chest · tear · bowl

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. tear — to rip
  7. fork — in a road
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — from crying
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — a box
  12. degree — temperature
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. spring — of water
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. spring — a coil
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. spring — the season
  24. deal — to handle

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