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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: spring · hand · pit · branch · mine · root · degree · dip

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. spring — a coil
  5. pit — in a race
  6. hand — help
  7. dip — to sink
  8. degree — an amount
  9. branch — a division
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. pit — a hole
  13. degree — temperature
  14. root — of a plant
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. hand — in cards
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. root — the cause
  20. root — of a word
  21. spring — the season
  22. degree — from a university
  23. spring — of water
  24. mine — belonging to me

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