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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 · field · key · shower · branch · net · snap · fine

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. key — for a lock
  3. fine — all right
  4. fine — high quality
  5. field — a subject
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — in sport
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. key — the most important part
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. spring — a coil
  12. snap — to click
  13. branch — a division
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. field — farmland
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. net — for catching
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. spring — the season
  21. spring — of water
  22. field — for sport
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — to wash

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