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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. ground — the earth
  3. wound — an injury
  4. field — for sport
  5. ground — crushed
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. rock — a stone
  9. field — a subject
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. field — farmland
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — the season
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. ground — a position
  16. hand — in cards
  17. rock — music
  18. hand — help

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