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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: net · cap · court · spring · sharp · degree · cue · root

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. court — for sport
  3. spring — of water
  4. net — for catching
  5. spring — the season
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. net — in sport
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cue — for pool
  10. court — of law
  11. cap — a hat
  12. cue — a signal
  13. net — after costs
  14. cap — a lid
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. root — the cause
  17. degree — an amount
  18. root — of a word
  19. cue — a hint
  20. root — of a plant
  21. court — of a king
  22. sharp — clever
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — temperature

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