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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 116 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: club · band · degree · pop · spring · field · fall · bowl

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. band — a music group
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. pop — music
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. club — for dancing
  8. spring — the season
  9. pop — soda
  10. pop — to visit
  11. fall — to drop
  12. degree — from a university
  13. fall — to drop
  14. degree — temperature
  15. spring — a coil
  16. field — a subject
  17. degree — an amount
  18. field — farmland
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. club — for golf
  21. fall — the season
  22. spring — of water
  23. club — a group
  24. band — a ring

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