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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: pitcher · pound · band · rest · spring · roll · hand · degree

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. hand — in cards
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. spring — the season
  8. rest — what's left
  9. hand — help
  10. pound — a weight
  11. roll — a cake
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. roll — a list
  14. degree — an amount
  15. band — a music group
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. spring — of water
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rest — a break
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — from a university
  22. band — a ring
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. pound — to hit hard

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