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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: degree · spring · wind · scale · wake · bear · tear · sharp

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. degree — temperature
  5. wake — a trail
  6. tear — to rip
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. spring — of water
  9. scale — in music
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. degree — from a university
  12. tear — from crying
  13. degree — an amount
  14. scale — size or range
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. sharp — clever
  21. bear — the animal
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — a coil
  24. bear — the animal

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