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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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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: rule · snap · spring · field · wind · rest

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. rest — a break
  3. spring — a coil
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. wind — moving air
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — a subject
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. snap — to click
  10. rule — a law
  11. rest — what's left
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. spring — of water
  14. wind — moving air
  15. spring — the season
  16. field — for sport
  17. rule — government
  18. rule — to rule out

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