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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.

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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: spell · foot · field · wound · racket · land · ground · coach

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. land — to come down
  3. wound — an injury
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. field — a subject
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. wound — an injury
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — a position
  11. land — ground
  12. spell — letters
  13. spell — a short time
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — for sport
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. foot — a measure
  18. spell — magic
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. land — a country
  24. ground — crushed

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