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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · field · fork · spring · chair · game · degree · club

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. fork — in a road
  3. spring — of water
  4. ground — crushed
  5. game — wild animals
  6. club — for dancing
  7. degree — an amount
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. degree — temperature
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. club — a group
  13. ground — a position
  14. chair — a leader
  15. field — farmland
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. spring — the season
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — for sport
  20. ground — the earth
  21. game — a match
  22. club — for golf
  23. spring — a coil
  24. fork — a garden tool

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