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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: spring · bank · wax · degree · last · dip · mark · cell

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. spring — of water
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. mark — a trace
  8. dip — to sink
  9. bank — for money
  10. bank — of a river
  11. wax — to grow
  12. cell — in biology
  13. last — to go on
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bank — for money
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. last — final
  18. spring — the season
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. spring — a coil
  21. last — finally
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. degree — from a university
  24. mark — a grade

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