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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 · degree · land · lean · mine · field · tear · charge

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. lean — thin
  5. land — ground
  6. degree — temperature
  7. field — for sport
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — a coil
  10. charge — in control
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. degree — an amount
  13. tear — from crying
  14. mine — for digging
  15. lean — to bend
  16. field — farmland
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying
  19. land — to come down
  20. degree — from a university
  21. field — a subject
  22. land — a country
  23. charge — electricity
  24. charge — a price

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