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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: spring · tube · ball · cue · degree · tear · last · roll

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. roll — a cake
  3. last — to go on
  4. tear — to rip
  5. cue — a signal
  6. cue — for pool
  7. tube — the underground
  8. spring — a coil
  9. ball — a great time
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cue — a hint
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. ball — a dance
  14. tube — a container
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. last — finally
  17. spring — the season
  18. tear — from crying
  19. last — final
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. tear — from crying
  22. degree — an amount
  23. roll — a list
  24. spring — of water

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