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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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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: spring · field · wound · squash · stand · mug · rash · pop

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. field — for sport
  4. pop — music
  5. squash — to crush
  6. field — a subject
  7. mug — a face
  8. mug — a cup
  9. field — farmland
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. rash — a series
  12. wound — an injury
  13. pop — soda
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — of water
  18. squash — the sport
  19. stand — to bear
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. spring — the season
  22. mug — to rob
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pop — to visit

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