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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: ball · field · bark · rock · ground · bound · spring · kid

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. field — farmland
  3. rock — a stone
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. bark — to shout
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — child
  9. field — for sport
  10. ground — crushed
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — the season
  13. bound — certain
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. spring — a coil
  16. rock — music
  17. ground — a position
  18. ball — a great time
  19. ground — the earth
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bound — obliged
  23. bound — tied together
  24. field — a subject

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