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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: shower · spring · field · mate · wound · staff · tube · racket

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. field — for sport
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. field — a subject
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. field — farmland
  9. staff — employees
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mate — to breed
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — to wash
  14. wound — an injury
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. spring — a coil
  17. mate — a friend
  18. tube — the underground
  19. spring — of water
  20. staff — employees
  21. mate — a partner
  22. tube — a container
  23. staff — a stick
  24. racket — for tennis

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