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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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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: snap · spring · field · foot · race · wound · pound · nail

  1. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. pound — a weight
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. snap — to click
  6. spring — a coil
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. wound — an injury
  11. race — humankind
  12. wound — an injury
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — a subject
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. field — farmland
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — the season
  21. race — a contest
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. race — the arms race
  24. foot — a measure

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