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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: wound · kick · current · field · spring · stock · net · hide

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. net — in sport
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. spring — the season
  5. stock — goods
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. stock — shares
  8. current — electric
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. field — for sport
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. current — of water
  13. net — for catching
  14. field — farmland
  15. wound — an injury
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. field — a subject
  18. wound — an injury
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. kick — in football
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. net — after costs
  23. spring — a coil
  24. current — happening now

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