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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: net · field · fork · spring · toast · capital · ground · kick

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. spring — the season
  3. ground — the earth
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. field — a subject
  7. net — in sport
  8. capital — a city
  9. spring — of water
  10. ground — crushed
  11. net — for catching
  12. fork — in a road
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. field — for sport
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. field — farmland
  17. spring — a coil
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. kick — in football
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. net — after costs
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. capital — money
  24. ground — a position

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