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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 120 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
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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 · file · land · spring · season · present · nail · rash

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. spring — of water
  3. field — a subject
  4. season — of the year
  5. field — farmland
  6. file — a document
  7. present — the time now
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. season — in sport
  10. file — a tool
  11. rash — a series
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. land — to come down
  14. field — for sport
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. present — there
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. present — a gift
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. land — ground
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — the season
  23. file — a line of people
  24. land — a country

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