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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 120 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 · leaves · bass · chest · field · mouse · fork · race

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. spring — the season
  4. field — a subject
  5. bass — low music
  6. race — humankind
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. chest — of your body
  9. spring — of water
  10. race — the arms race
  11. field — farmland
  12. race — a contest
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. spring — a coil
  15. chest — a box
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. chest — of your body
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bass — the fish
  21. field — for sport
  22. fork — in a road
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. fork — a garden tool

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