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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: firm · bark · degree · wave · field · stick · spring · clip

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — to cut
  4. firm — decided
  5. field — farmland
  6. firm — a company
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. bark — to shout
  9. firm — steady
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — of water
  15. clip — a video
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. field — a subject
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. spring — the season
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — temperature

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