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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: tear · clip · wound · spring · court · cabinet · deal · field

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. wound — an injury
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. field — a subject
  6. spring — of water
  7. field — for sport
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. court — of a king
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. deal — to handle
  13. clip — to cut
  14. tear — from crying
  15. court — of law
  16. field — farmland
  17. spring — a coil
  18. clip — a video
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. clip — for paper
  22. spring — the season
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cabinet — ministers

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