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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: hand · foot · spring · racket · race · kick · rash · field

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. spring — of water
  3. field — a subject
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. foot — a measure
  8. spring — the season
  9. race — humankind
  10. rash — hasty
  11. field — farmland
  12. hand — help
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. race — the arms race
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. rash — a series
  20. kick — in football
  21. hand — in cards
  22. race — a contest
  23. field — for sport
  24. spring — a coil

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