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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: spring · track · bark · game · wound · spell · field · rash

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. spell — letters
  3. field — a subject
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. rash — hasty
  6. spring — of water
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spring — a coil
  10. field — for sport
  11. track — a song
  12. wound — an injury
  13. rash — a series
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. spell — magic
  16. game — wild animals
  17. track — to keep track
  18. game — a match
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — to shout
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. wound — an injury
  23. field — farmland
  24. spring — the season

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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