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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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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: spring · stock · club · present · wave · file · tear · degree

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. present — there
  3. stock — goods
  4. file — a line of people
  5. club — for golf
  6. tear — from crying
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. spring — a coil
  11. stock — shares
  12. spring — of water
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. club — for dancing
  15. file — a tool
  16. club — a group
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. spring — the season
  20. present — a gift
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. degree — an amount
  23. file — a document
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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