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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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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: rule · bark · chest · wax · degree · fall · spring · rest

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. degree — temperature
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. spring — a coil
  5. rest — what's left
  6. fall — to drop
  7. spring — of water
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. rest — a break
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. rule — government
  13. degree — from a university
  14. rest — what's left
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. rule — a law
  17. chest — a box
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. wax — to grow
  20. fall — the season
  21. chest — of your body
  22. degree — an amount
  23. fall — to drop
  24. chest — of your body

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