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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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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: track · spring · land · mate · field · wound · hand · sharp

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — farmland
  4. land — to come down
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. land — ground
  7. mate — a partner
  8. spring — a coil
  9. track — a song
  10. spring — the season
  11. land — a country
  12. mate — to breed
  13. track — to keep track
  14. field — a subject
  15. mate — a friend
  16. sharp — clever
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. wound — an injury
  20. track — a path
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. wound — an injury
  23. spring — of water
  24. hand — help

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