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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: suit · spring · field · club · stem · mine · wound · degree

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. field — a subject
  6. club — a group
  7. field — farmland
  8. wound — an injury
  9. suit — clothes
  10. spring — a coil
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. suit — to fit
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. degree — from a university
  15. stem — to come from
  16. degree — temperature
  17. spring — the season
  18. suit — in cards
  19. field — for sport
  20. club — for golf
  21. wound — an injury
  22. degree — an amount
  23. spring — of water
  24. club — for dancing

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