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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: spring · chip · bay · cold · prune · last · rash · degree

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. prune — to trim
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. rash — hasty
  10. chip — to eat
  11. last — to go on
  12. spring — of water
  13. last — final
  14. prune — to trim
  15. chip — for betting
  16. spring — the season
  17. rash — a series
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. degree — from a university
  21. last — finally
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. cold — an illness

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