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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 120 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: degree · board · fan · spring · bound · pitcher · hand · field

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. field — for sport
  3. degree — an amount
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. spring — of water
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bound — certain
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. field — a subject
  11. hand — in cards
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. spring — the season
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — help
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. board — a committee
  18. bound — obliged
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. field — farmland
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. spring — a coil
  24. board — to get on

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