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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 · net · current · kid · content · rock · ground · stem

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. net — in sport
  3. ground — the earth
  4. net — after costs
  5. kid — child
  6. current — of water
  7. spring — the season
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. spring — a coil
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. content — happy
  13. current — electric
  14. ground — a position
  15. stem — to come from
  16. kid — to tease
  17. net — for catching
  18. rock — a stone
  19. spring — of water
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. rock — music
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. current — happening now
  24. content — the amount

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