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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: perch · vault · cell · wound · field · board · spring · season

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. field — a subject
  3. cell — a phone
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. board — a committee
  7. board — to get on
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — the fish
  10. wound — an injury
  11. spring — a coil
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. field — for sport
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. season — in sport
  16. spring — of water
  17. field — farmland
  18. spring — the season
  19. vault — a safe
  20. wound — an injury
  21. cell — in biology
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. cell — in a prison

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