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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: ground · degree · sharp · spring · wound · mine · suit · field

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. sharp — clever
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — temperature
  9. mine — for digging
  10. field — a subject
  11. spring — of water
  12. field — farmland
  13. spring — the season
  14. field — for sport
  15. ground — the earth
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. suit — to fit
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. ground — a position
  20. spring — a coil
  21. suit — clothes
  22. suit — in cards
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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