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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: land · spring · kick · degree · content · roll · rule · wave

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. content — happy
  3. land — a country
  4. degree — an amount
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. degree — from a university
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. content — the amount
  9. land — ground
  10. spring — of water
  11. roll — a list
  12. land — to come down
  13. kick — in football
  14. rule — a law
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. spring — the season
  18. degree — temperature
  19. spring — a coil
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. rule — government
  24. roll — a cake

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