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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: wound · trunk · stand · ball · fan · degree · spring · land

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. degree — an amount
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. wound — an injury
  7. land — a country
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — temperature
  12. ball — a great time
  13. stand — to bear
  14. wound — an injury
  15. land — to come down
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — of water
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. land — ground
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. ball — a dance
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. fan — a supporter

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