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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cell · spell · file · spring · lean · land · degree · craft

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. cell — a phone
  3. spring — of water
  4. spell — letters
  5. land — to come down
  6. file — a document
  7. spring — a coil
  8. degree — temperature
  9. craft — a skill
  10. lean — to bend
  11. spell — magic
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. degree — an amount
  14. land — ground
  15. file — a tool
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. lean — thin
  18. craft — boats
  19. cell — in biology
  20. degree — from a university
  21. spring — the season
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. spell — a short time
  24. file — a line of people

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