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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
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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: fork · present · scale · field · ground · cold · roll · spring

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. present — the time now
  3. field — for sport
  4. present — a gift
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — of water
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. scale — in music
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. ground — a position
  12. fork — in a road
  13. scale — size or range
  14. roll — a cake
  15. ground — crushed
  16. cold — an illness
  17. present — there
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. field — farmland
  20. spring — a coil
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. roll — a list
  23. field — a subject
  24. cold — not warm

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