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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: content · jam · sharp · cold · ground · spring · nail · field

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. sharp — clever
  3. cold — not warm
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. content — the amount
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. cold — an illness
  8. field — for sport
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. ground — crushed
  11. field — a subject
  12. content — happy
  13. spring — the season
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. ground — the earth
  18. spring — a coil
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. field — farmland
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. spring — of water
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. ground — a position

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