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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 120 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: press · content · band · tear · firm · board · field · spring

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. board — a committee
  3. content — the amount
  4. field — a subject
  5. band — a ring
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. spring — a coil
  8. press — to push
  9. firm — a company
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. press — a publisher
  12. tear — from crying
  13. field — for sport
  14. board — to get on
  15. spring — of water
  16. firm — steady
  17. field — farmland
  18. tear — to rip
  19. press — newspapers
  20. firm — decided
  21. band — a music group
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. tear — from crying
  24. content — happy

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