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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: spring · plane · swing · cold · bank · can · field · season

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. cold — an illness
  3. can — a tin
  4. bank — of a river
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — of water
  7. can — to be able to
  8. bank — for money
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. plane — a tool
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — music
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. can — a tin
  17. season — in sport
  18. bank — for money
  19. spring — a coil
  20. season — of the year
  21. swing — in golf
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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