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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: spring · bass · deal · bank · march · hand · stem · field

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. stem — to come from
  3. field — a subject
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. spring — of water
  6. field — for sport
  7. march — the month
  8. bank — for money
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. deal — to handle
  11. hand — in cards
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. field — farmland
  14. spring — a coil
  15. march — the month
  16. bass — low music
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. march — music
  19. bank — for money
  20. bank — of a river
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. spring — the season
  23. bass — the fish
  24. stem — of a plant

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