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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 116 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
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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: spring · kid · field · file · wake · wound · mark · cap

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. kid — child
  3. spring — the season
  4. field — farmland
  5. file — a line of people
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. field — a subject
  9. mark — a grade
  10. spring — of water
  11. cap — a lid
  12. wound — an injury
  13. mark — a trace
  14. cap — of ice
  15. wake — a trail
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. file — a tool
  19. file — a document
  20. kid — to tease
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wound — an injury
  23. field — for sport
  24. cap — a hat

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