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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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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: nail · row · shower · wound · cap · field · deal · bound

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cap — a hat
  3. field — farmland
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cap — of ice
  7. bound — tied together
  8. row — to paddle
  9. deal — to handle
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. row — a line
  13. bound — certain
  14. cap — a lid
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — a subject
  17. shower — to wash
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. shower — rain
  20. bound — obliged
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. nail — for a hammer

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