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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: spring · chair · face · wind · nail · pitcher · field · leaves

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. spring — of water
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. field — farmland
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. chair — a leader
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. field — for sport
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — a coil
  18. face — to confront
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. face — to point toward
  22. face — part of the head
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. leaves — of a tree

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