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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: hide · spring · net · degree · swing · bank · object · kid

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. object — an aim
  3. degree — an amount
  4. net — in sport
  5. swing — in golf
  6. object — a thing
  7. kid — child
  8. spring — the season
  9. net — after costs
  10. bank — for money
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — temperature
  13. swing — to play on
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. spring — of water
  16. spring — a coil
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. bank — for money
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. net — for catching
  21. bank — of a river
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. kid — to tease
  24. swing — music

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