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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: mine · swing · net · pit · wound · field · bass · spring

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. spring — of water
  3. net — after costs
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bass — low music
  6. spring — the season
  7. swing — to play on
  8. pit — in a race
  9. pit — a hole
  10. net — for catching
  11. swing — music
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bass — the fish
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. field — for sport
  17. swing — in golf
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. field — farmland
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. spring — a coil
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. field — a subject
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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