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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: spring · field · swing · trunk · staff · rest · degree · net

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. staff — employees
  3. spring — the season
  4. field — a subject
  5. swing — in golf
  6. rest — a break
  7. swing — to play on
  8. field — farmland
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. staff — a stick
  12. rest — what's left
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. net — after costs
  15. swing — music
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. net — in sport
  18. field — for sport
  19. degree — an amount
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — a coil
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. rest — what's left
  24. staff — employees

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