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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 116 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: root · degree · row · field · bulb · spring · swing · ground

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. bulb — for light
  3. ground — a position
  4. degree — temperature
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — of water
  7. row — a line
  8. root — the cause
  9. ground — the earth
  10. field — for sport
  11. ground — crushed
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. field — farmland
  15. swing — to play on
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — an amount
  18. field — a subject
  19. spring — the season
  20. row — to paddle
  21. root — of a plant
  22. swing — music
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. swing — in golf

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