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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: squash · sharp · spring · field · kid · wound · roll · pound

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. roll — a list
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. spring — of water
  7. field — a subject
  8. spring — a coil
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. pound — a weight
  11. squash — to crush
  12. spring — the season
  13. squash — the sport
  14. kid — to tease
  15. roll — a cake
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. field — for sport
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. wound — an injury
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. field — farmland
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. sharp — clever
  24. kid — child

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