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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: arm · saw · tube · degree · land · spring · bass · racket

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. tube — a container
  4. degree — an amount
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. land — to come down
  7. tube — the underground
  8. spring — of water
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. spring — a coil
  14. degree — from a university
  15. land — ground
  16. bass — the fish
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. saw — the tool
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. degree — temperature
  21. spring — the season
  22. bass — low music
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. saw — the tool

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