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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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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: last · field · wound · spring · chip · pound · snap · squash

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. last — final
  4. wound — an injury
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. wound — an injury
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spring — of water
  10. squash — to crush
  11. squash — the sport
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pound — a weight
  14. last — to go on
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. field — for sport
  18. spring — the season
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. snap — to click
  21. last — finally
  22. chip — for betting
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — a subject

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