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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: swing · cold · kick · spring · mark · net · field · staff

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. field — a subject
  3. swing — to play on
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. net — in sport
  6. field — for sport
  7. spring — a coil
  8. net — after costs
  9. staff — a stick
  10. swing — music
  11. net — for catching
  12. kick — in football
  13. staff — employees
  14. mark — a grade
  15. staff — employees
  16. field — farmland
  17. spring — of water
  18. mark — a trace
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. cold — not warm
  23. swing — in golf
  24. spring — the season

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