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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.

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: spring · ground · ball · squash · perch · straw · field · chest

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. chest — a box
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. chest — of your body
  5. ground — the earth
  6. ground — a position
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. chest — of your body
  10. spring — of water
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. perch — the fish
  15. squash — to crush
  16. squash — the sport
  17. spring — the season
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — for sport
  20. ball — a dance
  21. field — a subject
  22. ball — a great time
  23. spring — a coil
  24. squash — the vegetable

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