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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
468
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: rest · field · ball · press · wound · kick · tube · spring

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — in football
  4. spring — a coil
  5. ball — a dance
  6. ball — a great time
  7. wound — an injury
  8. field — for sport
  9. tube — the underground
  10. spring — the season
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. rest — a break
  14. rest — what's left
  15. tube — a container
  16. field — farmland
  17. wound — an injury
  18. press — to push
  19. rest — what's left
  20. press — a publisher
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. spring — of water
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. press — newspapers

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