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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: lean · hand · spring · pop · degree · club · stock · ball

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. spring — of water
  3. pop — to visit
  4. hand — help
  5. ball — a great time
  6. stock — shares
  7. club — a group
  8. spring — a coil
  9. stock — goods
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. degree — from a university
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. club — for golf
  14. hand — in cards
  15. degree — temperature
  16. pop — soda
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. spring — the season
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. lean — thin
  21. club — for dancing
  22. pop — music
  23. ball — a dance
  24. degree — an amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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