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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 · shower · stem · bass · nail · present · swing · field

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. swing — to play on
  3. swing — in golf
  4. field — a subject
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. bass — low music
  7. spring — a coil
  8. shower — to wash
  9. field — farmland
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. shower — rain
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. present — there
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. spring — of water
  18. bass — the fish
  19. present — the time now
  20. swing — music
  21. stem — to come from
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. present — a gift
  24. spring — the season

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