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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 · tear · lean · row · field · leaves · band · net

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. band — a ring
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. net — after costs
  6. row — a line
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spring — of water
  10. field — a subject
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. field — farmland
  13. spring — the season
  14. lean — thin
  15. band — a music group
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. field — for sport
  18. tear — from crying
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. lean — to bend
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. row — to paddle
  24. net — for catching

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