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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: hide · wound · arm · spring · club · march · rest · field

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. rest — what's left
  3. club — for dancing
  4. wound — an injury
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. rest — a break
  8. spring — a coil
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. rest — what's left
  11. march — music
  12. field — for sport
  13. spring — of water
  14. club — for golf
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. march — the month
  18. club — a group
  19. march — the month
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. spring — the season
  22. field — farmland
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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