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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: spring · rash · wound · field · court · mine · bulb · scale

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. bulb — for light
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. field — for sport
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. spring — the season
  7. court — for sport
  8. scale — in music
  9. scale — size or range
  10. spring — a coil
  11. wound — an injury
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. rash — a series
  14. court — of law
  15. rash — hasty
  16. field — a subject
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. spring — of water
  19. court — of a king
  20. wound — an injury
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. field — farmland
  23. mine — for digging
  24. bulb — for light

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