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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.

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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: field · swing · season · rash · sharp · root · rush · mine

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. root — of a word
  3. rash — hasty
  4. root — of a plant
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. swing — music
  7. swing — to play on
  8. sharp — clever
  9. mine — for digging
  10. swing — in golf
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. field — for sport
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. rash — a series
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. season — in sport
  18. season — of the year
  19. root — the cause
  20. field — a subject
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. rush — hurry
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. mine — belonging to me

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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