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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 · kick · ground · bound · hide · degree · stem · net

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. bound — obliged
  3. degree — from a university
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. spring — a coil
  6. net — after costs
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. kick — in football
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. ground — crushed
  12. spring — of water
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. bound — certain
  15. net — for catching
  16. ground — the earth
  17. degree — temperature
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. net — in sport
  21. bound — tied together
  22. degree — an amount
  23. stem — to come from
  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