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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: wound · hand · cold · mark · field · foot · squash · ball

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. hand — help
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. hand — in cards
  9. field — a subject
  10. squash — the sport
  11. cold — not warm
  12. foot — a measure
  13. mark — a grade
  14. mark — a trace
  15. ball — a great time
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wound — an injury
  19. field — for sport
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. ball — a dance
  22. squash — to crush
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. field — farmland

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